








-0 

' . 0 N c « 

r 'f* c ° ^. v ^ 1 

* a'*' J* Jp(wtc'?2? * 

✓> a \> *•» AtL I ///. 

\ * ^ 

*)■ 

A ^ ^'^V''vvi 5;? > — '-7LSJjr- 

V x- -«'•' x _‘l O S O o , rU L € -Z4A / 

\* , *o ^ " 1 * ^° ».., <?*. *»«•’ ^ %-. *.,i 

- y 0 i e - > a° ''*&%?< o * v »■<*», > 

° ^ ; 4 HR: *W* V r# w,^= 

•' ,\\ w v., '#.* a *&. 

. <v* • ^ ; ^ ^ * i 

°«' :at#; A > . 



r 0 - c 

„ _ „ ..„ J * , , ^ 

% * ^ * upr u 

f; * "*■ „° .V 

' g. 

. * w SMx* -, 

,^'v ** 
- '> 



v 


0 o. 

^ /i 



%. *■’««’, / %." » q, • ' /* -o. ' » , 

", % V > /,'''''*\ S 
' ‘ ^ ^ “ , A 1 > n £&•/ -tpw. X 

'\ Or ^ 

'/j O ">*^ Cl^ j, 2=k fek' ^ & 




» 


•>* V 

o 0 


cf- «s ^ ^Q.V - * '^r v W‘ * - ‘Kl, 

y 0 « k * A> < /y /' Ky s s % \G q v y 0 

o°- .qr *,V"’ ^ *';; *, % #*'.< 

N c*?\'AW ' q, A> * £ ' ^ 

• v ■> * o o s ° 

\ 0< ^. 

' * or 

* >, N o ? v 

\> sx Y * 0 /■ 

v 

o 


^ •*+. 


» C ^ 

" ,r 



> X'f ^ , <yy//!\)'W " 

* q * 0 r . 

V X * ' « /• " 8 1 '‘ / s <> * * 

- 4 fr„ 

~ A V <S> 7 

- $ %, 'VJ ^ 1 * v 

y 0 * * * 0 K ( ^ * * S ' 


A- 


























\ v «*• 


o 


V. <*■ 

, %.'* »TG* /' A aa s .., a,.'»,;%’■ <t 

'">* v * - *9 - W.A ^ v v 


0v^’ * 

x/> \v 




% '•-’> s f: / % 

\ °o 0 O* AL\V** 

« . W 

" ■ • ^ A 

A 0 > * r <D 

o \V 



A, 

* A 1 




A 4 ° 


v 7 ' A‘* ^r 

A/> ,^\ X aj 


C, A 

♦ *V *% 




<,^ O ^ A y, <^\\J' ’ Vi V 

<^ * A c'- A O' 

v v < ~^r * 0 *> K * \G K , ^ 

,\\ » i b "t' -x . 0 N G 

y\S <t ' 1 B Q O. 




ty v-^ » „ . , e- x ,i 0 

v * ' * 0 ' ' v V * 

* ■ * A% >, ^ A 


A" 5 ’ 




\\“ <n 

,A V •> 

^ * ’> 'A ~ 

.V C>" 

, ,A O 


& A * 
© ° 

2 G z 
A '- X '' \ 

o^v ° s 0 * ***“ x ^\a 18 « \ 

° o x : a v 


* a ^ :^j 

NT ^ <#■ 

A- *• 

\V ^ 




-O A.* *0, A * " '” A 0 s' •* u\'* 5 N ° ’ A 

-. V ,v J vV, ; ^ A * J-e0fct ' 

A ^ - W_ 1^ ' AV ^ o \ * A ^ 

a ^ a g/' aa"'^ a ^ *, 

■k" -fv ^ ^ ( 1 s' : A O- ’ A * A A V ^ 

, ^A.A / 4fe.*. ° 1 

*: ,o o' 



,, O 0 C 

- - C -A ^ 

— -, ■ _ r 

<, ^ * ■“ 

« A %. 

> [A 

* ,# .. A ':» 

A / 

V ^ ^ 41 



r oo x 


rv f C* ^ K -£* O • 

/a'*aV° no ’ a*»a>*"' 

#A % - A A *.*$©*'. -f' 

" i t ^ c > 



" A V A-, ^s 5 ,* -' ’ » A v A, = 

* A <>•. u) \T . Vj A ^ ^ A '?A ••> 

A 
* 

o 

^ nN^- > 

O ^ xx ^'^ * 

O. * .0 s 0 13 A 

» A, V' ^ X A '> '■ A v \ A c> V- 

: A A '%/ ^ a 

. . v> A • - ' / " < iV A 




-A aV ^ 

V A V oo 



W <1 *>, 

-V V 

^ ai x ^ y°i ° ’ x ° _* a<n 

^ A 


. z 

A> </> 




A V 


rD 




,**,% * O n ° 0< /' 

C‘ V' s, 



A' ^ ^ 

> .0 V <- *,„o 

0 oA »'•■*/% .A 

,y b A 


\V A 

^ A: 


* - ^ v °vWr a v' r 

Jc^ A 
A °o o 0 ' .'■!A° a •* 

A A - A A- * t ‘ ’* ' 

i v . o o' ° «A 

,5 a -A 

A ^ AAA^ A 

cA /- \ r 

^ - . T> A' 



A 


<p 

* A A 

* .V 5 ^ 





\0' 

,^a; ^ ; 

* A v © 
, G ■>*, 


, % J ° •‘■‘ A 

B « o. .o v 


A 


A>. ‘ 












































NORTHERN EUROPE. 





NORTHERN EUROPE, 

(DENMARK, SWEDEN, RUSSIA,) 

LOCAL, SOCIAL, AND POLITICAL, 

IN 186 t . 

WITH A SUCCINCT CONTINUATION DOWN TO MAY, 1862. 

IB * . ^ 

P>y Captain WaF. b/laUBIE, 

Tier Majesty's Madras Artillery, (late) Commissary of Ordnance, Nagpore Force. 


“Ye lakes, whose vessels catch the busy gale; 

Ye bending swains, that dress the flowery vale; 

For me your tributary stores combine: 

Creation’s heir, the world, the world is mine !" 

Goldsmith's Traveller. 

* * * “ Coming events cast their shadows before.” 

Campbell. 



SAUNDERS, OTLEY, AND CO., 


66, BROOK STREET, HANOVER SQUARE. 

1862 . 











LONDON: W. CLOWES AKI) SONS, STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS, 






TO 

MY F A T H E K, 


WHOM I ACCOMPANIED DURING THE BRIEF TOUR 

RECORDED IN THIS VOLUME, 

I DEDICATE THE SAME, 

AS A MARK OF 

AFFECTION AND RESPECT. 


ct2 




- 












' ' f ’ IGW 

' 








PREFACE. 


I am induced to publish the following Notes from a 
desire to furnish some popular information about 
Northern Europe. For this purpose, what novel 
matter I picked up in my visit is combined with what 
is old or already known. There are detailed works 
on Scandinavia and Russia ; but, I believe, none from 
which, in a short space of time, those whose daily oc¬ 
cupations prevent much reading, may gain a general 
view of the social and political aspects of the North. 
The Marquis de Custine’s ‘ Russia ’ is a popular large 
work on that empire. It was written, however, before 
the strong autocratic spirit really began to pass aw T ay. 
Russia is gradually becoming enlightened and liberal. 
During the threatening war-storm which has just 
passed over us, an endeavour to aid the cause of Peace 
was manifested by the communication of all papers 
from the Russian Minister at Washington to the Great 
Powers. Russia had, before this, given the Americans 
counsel regarding the horrors of a civil war ; and, 
while Prussia was threatening Denmark, we had the 
French Emperor—that mens eequa in arduis —taking 
steps with Russia for the recognition of the Kingdom 



PREFACE. 


• • • 
vm 

of Italy by that power. Truly, “ coming events cast 
their shadows before ! ” That long talked-of “ muster¬ 
ing among the masses,” and general emancipation 
from physical and mental thraldom, may not be far 
distant. Regarding Denmark, all may not be of 
opinion—although I am sure there are many who are 
—that the best policy for Denmark to follow is that 
of an intimate union with the two other Scandinavian 
kingdoms. But few calm observers of the political 
barometer of Europe will deny that the union into one 
political body of the Scandinavian tribes in the North 
is “ merely a question of time.” About this question 
there are many difficulties, but which may all disap¬ 
pear before kingly wisdom and bold statesmanship. 
The attitude of the Norwegian Government towards 
Sweden has not, since my visit, been quite satisfactory ; 
but, doubtless, ere this, Charles XV. has done his 
utmost in that quarter to “ allay passions,” and 
“ satisfy wishes ” which the general interest does not 
absolutely force him to resist. Touching home, I am 
anxious to see brought about a firm British and Scan¬ 
dinavian alliance. Historical remarks have been here 
and there introduced, which may give my little work, 
if it have any merit at all, more than only a passing 
value. I may remark that the whole is the work of a 
soldier, at home recruiting his health after superin¬ 
tending a large arsenal in the East during late years, 
including that (1857) of India’s “severest trial.” 

The old question of Russian Invasion of British 
India has been revived in a chapter from my ‘ Diary.' 
Two Seetabuldee lectures, delivered by me in Central 


PREFACE. 


ix 


India, have also been given for the sake of variety : 
they may likewise interest from the affinity which 
exists between the East and the North. With regard 
to the Mogul lecture, the return of a Proconsul to 
the greatest city in the world, from the scene of his 
Eastern triumphs, may form an excuse for here pre¬ 
senting a brief sketch of the decline and fall of that 
once mighty Mogul Empire, which, for centuries, kept 
many nations in terror ; and on the ruins of which 
we have founded a mighty Empire, and carried out 
the grandest mission ever achieved by the genius of 
Great Britain. As the publication of this work has 
been longer delayed than was anticipated, advantage 
has been taken of the delay to give a supplementary 
section, to which I beg the reader’s attention, bringing 
events down to the opening of the Great International 
Exhibition. 


Boulogne-sur-Mer, 

2nd May , 1862. 


W. F. B. L. 












CONTENTS 


SECTION I. 

TO HAMBURG AND COPENHAGEN 


GOTTENBURG 


SECTION II. 


SECTION III. 

THE GOTHA CANAL-FALLS OF TROLHATTAN 


SECTION IV. 

STOCKHOLM — DROTTNINGHOLM — UPSALA 


SECTION V. 

VISIT TO THE PALACE AT STOCKHOLM —CHARLES THE FIFTEENTH, 
KING OF SWEDEN ....... 


SECTION VI. 

TO HELSINGFORS—THE RUSSIAN WAR 

SECTION VII. 

CRONSTADT—ST. PETERSBURGH 


SECTION VIII. 


PAGE 

1 


57 


67 


78 


143 


152 


171 


FROM ST. PETERSBURGH TO BERLIN 



• • 
Xll 


CONTENTS. 


SECTION IX. 

HANOVER—A WATERLOO HERO — HOME 

SECTION X. 

SUPPLEMENTARY SECTION. From February to May, 18G2 . 

NOTES, CHIEFLY SCIENTIFIC . 

USEFUL NOTES FOR TRAVELLERS IN NORTHERN EUROPE . 

r 


SEETABULDEE LECTURES. 

I. THE NEILGHERRIES, OR BLUE MOUNTAINS 

II. A SKETCH OF THE MOGULS, AND THE MOGUL EMPIRE IN 
INDIA ......... 


POLITICAL SKETCH. 

(From the Diary of a Commissary.) 

NOTES ON RUSSIAN INVASION OF BRITISH INDIA . 


APPENDIX. 

I. LAKES OF SWEDEN .... 

II. SUCCESSION TO THE THRONE OF SWEDEN 

III. A RUSSIAN WIFE SHOW 

IV. EUROPEAN ARMIES AND NAVIES 
V. THE GERMAN-DANISH QUESTION 

CONCLUDING RExMARKS 


PAGE 

254 

261 

275 

283 


200 

320 


358 


369 

370 

371 
373 
376 
379 






NORTHERN EUROPE. 


errata. 

Page 290, 8th line from bottom, for “ 12th December,” read “ 14th December.” 
,, 294, 297, 308, Captain (now Colonel) 0achterlony. 

381, 18th line from bottom, for “ 1784,” read “ 1786. 


.. . » — j • <w j xix I* v/c/ix 1/11U LI LIO11 LO O U1 

Indian Quarterly * I remarked that Egypt and Syria 
had, of late years, found able advocates and describers 
in those accomplished ladies whose delight during a 
“ Yacht Voyage ” in the Mediterranean awakened 
their ambition to the performance of Diaries and Jour¬ 
nals in the Holy Land. Italy and Germany had been 
nearly written dry; so had, perhaps, Egypt and Syria; 
but I considered Syria as a land to which, as time 
passed on, increased attention would be given, and 
therefore took a lively interest in what might be con¬ 
sidered a new field of travel for the ladies. Syria, a 
land consecrated by so many deeds of imperishable 
renown. Civilisation in Syria ! The Holy Land has 
been, and is yet to be, blessed. Little I thought, while 
writing about Syrian travellers, during intervals of duty 

* ‘ Calcutta Review.’ 


t 

/ 


B 


2 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


in far-away mystical and pagan Orissa, that I should 
ever set foot in Scandinavia and Russia, regions which 
demand, and are receiving, increased attention at the 
present time, and about which there are many erro¬ 
neous ideas. Little I thought, while wandering near 
the great temple of Jagannath, hearing the “ remorse¬ 
less dash” of billows against the shores of Puri, some¬ 
times beholding the waves, as they approached the * 
Swerga-dwara (the Hindus’ so-called gate of heaven), 
aiding the burning sun in whitening the bones of those 
who were said to have already entered into paradise; 
ittle I thought, I say, that I should have one day 
returned from a visit, however brief, to the cold north; 
to Denmark, so wrapped up with our early English 
history, the country of Shakspeare’s mightiest creation, 

‘ Hamlet, the Dane,’ and possessing a brave people, 
little more than half-a-century ago opposed to us ; to 
Sweden, the land of Gustavus Adolphus, the scene of 
so many struggles for religious liberty, the land of 
Charles the Twelfth and Bernadotte; to Russia, where 
Peter and Catherine reared the mighty fragments of 
civilisation, afterwards consolidated by Alexander and 
Nicholas, and where, it has long been said, with how 
little reason every one now knows, the power exists 
which is one day to wrest India from us ! 

But, after war in Europe with Russia; after a deadly 
rebellion in India; on the eve of the “unity” and 
independence of Italy ; during a disgraceful civil war 
in America ; while Hungary and Poland and Germany 
were musing o’er the prospects of better days, and 
Prussia seemed to aim at rivalling the days of Frede- 


HAMBURG AND COPENHAGEN. 


3 


rick, and Sweden those of the great Gustavus, I found 
myself accompanying my father, in the middle of 1861, 
in a quiet visit to Northern Europe, in pursuit of 
health and pleasure as well as in pursuit of Nature. 

I was literally bound from the East to the North. 

Not long from the Commissary’s desk in Central 
India, the heat of the scorching East still lodged in 
my weary frame; so, to prevent the evils arising from 
any too sudden change, it was thought prudent to 
leave early in August, one of the most pleasant 
summer months in the countries we were about to 
visit. On board the screw-steamer, 4 Snowdon,’ of 
Leith, which seemed to be loading on the principle of 
packing a carpet-hag, viz. never being able to get 
sufficient into her, we steamed carefully out of the 
crowded dock, and were soon at sea, bound for Ham¬ 
burg. The name of the deeply-laden vessel, in which 
a considerable number of passengers were to become 
once more acquainted with sea-life, was, doubtless, a 
cold one ; especially so to me who had made voyages 
in the 4 Oriental’ and the 4 Bombay’—the former 
steam-ship being that in which Warburton sang 
44 Hurrah ! for the Outward-bound !” as he set forth, 
light of heart, to gather materials for 4 The Crescent 
and the Cross.’ Wilkie, too, our Scottish Teniers, 
on return from his tour in the East, voyaged and died 
(June, 1841) in the 4 Oriental;’ but all reflections on 
steamers with glowing names, word-painting, men- 
painting, clever grouping, and warm colouring, va¬ 
nished by the third day after departure, or say as we 
beheld Heligoland. By that time we had done well 

b 2 


4 


NORTHERN EUROPE. f ' 

through the North Sea, thanks to our excellent cap¬ 
tain, whose navigation was as good as his humour. 
German ladies, some of whom had parted at Leith 
with husbands or relatives, the terrible word, Fare¬ 
well ! flooding their eyes with tears, were now com¬ 
posed and busy, working away with their needle; for 
German ladies, strange mixtures of grief and joy, are 
never idle. 

Truly, there is no medicine for keeping away the 
pain of parting, or any real grief, like employment! 

The captain, it might truly be said, was one who 
“ long had voyaged through many a stormy sea,”* 
and seemed to be of that admirable class of Scottish 
patriots who would prefer a look at the Trosachs to 
a ramble through all Germany. Their sentiments are 
that all there is Art; nothing of Nature on the Con¬ 
tinent. And then, Invasion ! so long as we possess 
stout hearts, and plenty of wooden walls to guard our 
sea-girt isles, who would fear that ? Would one man 
go back to tell the tale were invasion attempted? 
The defiance of Austria by Hungary, the unity of 
Germany as essential to her political success, in 
addition to the above homely topics, and an occasional 
incident set forth about the late Indian mutiny, 
amused the mixed company of British and foreigners 
as we passed the rugged coast of Heligoland. This 
island (which used to be inhabited by two thousand 
Danish fishermen, who acted as pilots) appeared to 
me quite different from the picture I had formed in 
imagination. Instead of what seemed at first like a 

* Byron. 



5 


Hamburg and Copenhagen. 

,»• t +1 

piece of the Sussex coast cut off and set in the ocean, 
I expected to behold some dark, giant rock frowning 
down on the restless North Sea, as if beholding another 
“ Death-boat” ploughing by its lee-shore w 7 ith a “ band 
of cadaverous smile”* for its crew. This ideal plough¬ 
ing of the night-surge now gave way to a bright night 
by no means tempestuous. A rather contrary wind 
retarded our progress a little ; but, passing by some 
thirty sail, chiefly colliers, nobly making way from the 
Elbe, we anchored by the first light in good time, 
there to remain until next morning. Heligoland, 
which the remorseless sea is gradually consuming 
away, is some twenty-five miles from the mouth of the 
Elbe, and about one hundred from Hamburg. In 
the morning we were all on the alert for the approach 
to this free, busy city. 

Being so much accustomed to Oriental scenery, I 
cannot help continually thinking of the East with the 
North; so now, on steaming up the Elbe, I thought 
more than once it was very like the Indian dark-flow¬ 
ing Hooghly; at another time I thought I had a touch 
of the picturesque scenery on one of Burmah’s noble 
rivers. It took some time to assure me that it was 
the matter-of-fact Elbe, at first not very inviting, and 
nothing more. Gazing on the right, or Hamburg 
side of the river (Hanoverf being on the left), as we 
steamed past Blankenesse, we beheld the country hilly, 
sandy, and with a forest aspect, the landscape dotted 

* Campbell—‘ The Death-boat of Heligoland.’ 

f The Stadt-dues formerly levied by the King of Hanover on vessels 
passing the town of Stade, are now removed by the payment of a large 
compensation. 


G 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


with merchants’ seats, hotels, pleasure-grounds, red- 
tiled houses with verandahs gracefully covered with 
green foliage; then came a handsome mansion with 
Ionic portico, the pillars also “in verdure clad;” at 
length we arrived opposite Nuhmuln (new mills), a 
pilot village. 

The snug little cottages, with their green enclosures 
and tiny gardens, by the side of the river, in conjunc¬ 
tion with the specimen we had on board, made me 
mutter inwardly, “The Elbe pilot loves comfort!” 
Again, “ Why should he not?” thought I. “ Does 
not Branch Pilot Stout of the Hooghly love comfort 
also ? And who earns domestic pleasures and a warm 
dinner more worthily than the danger-facing, weather¬ 
beaten, hard-working pilot?” Looking at our hero’s 
dress, which was very plain, gradually extending to 
command in shirt-sleeves, I was reminded of a scene 
on board the 4 Tenasserim,’ on return from Rangoon 
to Calcutta, after the Burmese war. What would the 
pilot’s dress be when he stepped on board the steamer? 
Would his hat be a black or white beaver, or a pith 
hat, or a wide-awake ? would he wear pumps, shoes, 
or boots ? would he have the old-fashioned ribbon or 
chain with a bunch of seals to it hanging forth from 
under a satin or silk waistcoat ?—or, would his jewel¬ 
lery be mosaic, his coat alpaca, and his dress altoge¬ 
ther with a dash of the present day in it ? A mad 
subaltern was just betting on the supposition that he 
would have a frill to his shirt, when the subject of 
our sport, solemn as the Sand-heads which he guarded, 
stepped on hoard. All eyes were upon him. He was 


HAMBURG AND COPENHAGEN. 


7 


of the middle rather than of the old or new school of 
pilots; and his dress was so contrived as to render 
nearly all speculation regarding it erroneous. Tossing 
his head up from the gazers, he went to his work with 
a smile, quite unconscious of how great an object of 
interest he had been. I was now admiring the Danish 
territory of Holstein, on the right bank of the noble 
river through which we steadily made way. Passing 
windmills—old-fashioned pleasant things to see in 
these days of steam—varying shades of foliage, and 
the small red church of Ottenstone, where Klopstock 
lies buried, the houses gradually increase, busy life is 
near, and we are off Altona. Next to this Danish city 
is Hamburg, nearing which the wharfs and warehouses 
by the water-side reminded me of approaching Ran¬ 
goon and London—the wooden houses especially (now 
forbidden on account of fire) making one think of the 
Burmese land. Looking at the great church of St. 
Michael’s, which we had seen a considerable way off, 
and then to the forest of masts in which we were about 
to anchor, we anticipated pleasure from a visit to a 
city with at least one lofty steeple,* plenty of com¬ 
merce, and forming a base on which to rest our next 
erratic operations. 

It is a maxim among the Arabs, that the three most 
charming objects in nature are, a green meadow, a 
clear rivulet, and a beautiful woman. The pleasures 
of heaven are also described by Mahomet under the 
allegory of cool fountains, green bowers, and black- 
eyed girls. I had not been two days an inmate of the 

* About 4G0 feet high. 




8 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


Hotel de l’Europe, on the Alster lake, before I disco¬ 
vered that the paradise of the Hamburg citizen or 
merchant was a good business, a good dinner, and a 
home on or near his much-loved Alster; for what the 
ocean was to Lord Byron, who repaid the pleasure it 
gave him with the finest passages of his poetry, is the 
Alster lake to many a citizen of Hamburg. Yes, it is 
on that beautiful lake, when the toils of the counting- 
house are over, that he is to be found steaming across, 
in a vessel not larger than an ordinary fishing-boat, to 
meet her whose welcome smile a thousand times re¬ 
pays the toils and vexations of the day; for here, as 
elsewhere, the darkest clouds of adversity can either 
be softened or dispelled by the light of home. On 
one occasion, a trip on the Alster lake disclosed to me 
a most pleasing family picture. It may be first men¬ 
tioned that the lake opposite our hotel is styled the 
binnen Alster ; beyond it is the oussen Alster; and to 
our left is the Kleinen , or small Alster, from which a 
canal to the Elbe forms only one of the many watery 
streets of Hamburg. From the oussen , or outer-lake, 
beyond, say twenty miles, the stream Alster rises, 
which feeds this trio of lakes. After dinner we pro¬ 
ceeded to the lake, took steamer, and made a quick 
run to and across the oussen Alster. This run, of 
some four or five miles, cost us only three Hamburg 
schillings each (or less than threepence), and we were 
landed , at a sweet spot where were merchants’ villas, 
tea-gardens, and a splendid avenue of trees lining the 
road. Disembarking with a gentleman we had con¬ 
versed with in the boat, who seemed to think the lofty 


HAMBURG AND COPENHAGEN. 


9 


steeple of St. Michael's the finest thing in the world 
(which it certainly is not), and gave us to understand 
that he was an ardent lover of Nature, and who was 
most courteous in giving us every information re¬ 
quired, he conducted us past his neat dwelling, by the 
road-side, where his good wife was waiting to receive 
him after his hard day’s work ; and, on entering the 
garden gate, he flung his arm round her waist, when 
they joyously went along in true German fashion to 
the door of his villa, where the rest of the family had 
all assembled to receive him. This simple, homely 
incident reminded me of some of Byron’s lines, and 
made me think rather well of the citizen of Hamburg. 
East or west, north or south, who with any heart can 
deny, that— 

“ ’Tis sweet to hear the watch-dog’s honest bark 

Bay deep-moutli’d welcome as we draw near home; 

’Tis sweet to know there is an eye will mark 
Our coming, and look brighter when we come!” 

The quaint old church of St. Michael’s is an inte¬ 
resting pile. The Exchange is a noble building, where 
merchants congregate in surprising numbers. Pretty 
peasant girls, from the “ Vierlanden,” sell flowers in 
front of it; and the costumes of the fair traders is ex¬ 
tremely picturesque. It was in the reign of James the 
First of England that Hamburg was declared “ a free 
imperial city.” It was this same wise monarch who 
had such an aversion to men converting their “ inward 
parts” into “ sooty kitchens” that he wrote the famous 
4 Counterblast to Tobacco.’ The spirit of this strong 
Royal pamphlet, however, had not the desired effect; 


10 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


and it certainly did not reach Hamburg. In James’s 
time, in England, the money spent in smoke was un¬ 
known ; the new trade of tobacco carried everything 
before it; and thousands of tobacco-houses stupified 
the public. Now, at least, the smoking in London, 
comparatively, is nothing to that in Hamburg. Forty 
or fifty thousand cigars a day in a city with a popula¬ 
tion under 200,000 ! # Truly, if the British people, 
and especially our ministers, forget all political diffi¬ 
culties at the jovial feast, metaphysics and smoke 
(nothing more hostile to action or less social) may 
have hitherto prevented the unity of Germany ! Give 
the German his pipe or cigar, and let him alone ! You 
dare not abstract the “weed” from the Hamburg citi¬ 
zen’s paradise. In few cities will the traveller meet 
with a more mixed population than in this Hansef 
{league) city, the chief commercial seaport of Germany. 
And here will an excellent opportunity be afforded him 
of pondering over the transition states of European 
minds. Is German valour now the same as in Julius 
Csesar’s time, when the awe which it inspired kept back 
the legions of Rome from attacking “ the fatherland ?” 
Are the Germans now possessed of that love of freedom 
and honour, that regard for human rights, so justly 
noted with admiration by Tacitus ? 

And the Danes he will meet here, are they worthy 

. * I heard it set down at 170,000 ; in ‘ Murray,’ we liaye it, with 
the adjacent territory, calculated at upwards of 188,000, “ of which 
about 6000 are Jews.” 

f This league was formed in the 13th century, by the chief com¬ 
mercial cities in Germany, in order to defend their property against 
feudal lords, and to clear the seas from pirates. 


HAMBURG AND COPENHAGEN. 


11 


to be descendants of those Scandinavian warriors, those 
matchless “ sea-kings,” who once swept the coasts of 
Europe ? And, passing over numerous English and 
French, are the Jews he will meet here possessed of 
that “ stern medallic countenance,” better known to 
us than any face in the five varieties of mankind, that 
same uncliangefulness of habit and opinion which, from 
the days in which the Messiah beheld “ the city” and 
“ wept over it,” to the present time, have become more 
and more indelible ? Warburton writes that “ Ham¬ 
burg contains so many of this people, that it has been 
called the lesser Jerusalem.” It has a large and respect¬ 
able Burger Guard, also a contingent of 1300 troops, 
for which this free town is liable to the Germanic 
Confederation. The French Government took posses¬ 
sion of the Hanse Towns of Hamburg and Bremen in 

« * r 

1807, after the battle of Jena in 1806. About the 
same time, Heligoland was captured from the Danes;’ 
and occupied by a British force. Hamburg was eva¬ 
cuated by the French on the Russian advance into 
Germany in 1813, and restored to its independence in 
1814. 

On the day of our departure, while taking a fare¬ 
well ramble in the beautiful gardens which look down 
on the Alster, I thought that men, rather than archi¬ 
tectural beauties or wonders in other arts, were to be 
seen in the pleasant city of Hamburg, which we left, on 
a bright afternoon, for the Danish town of Altona, on 
the border, en route for Copenhagen. Altona, the prin¬ 
cipal town of the Duchy of Holstein (of which the King 
of Denmark is Grand Duke) has an imposing appear- 


12 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


ance, being a sort of miniature edition of Hamburg. 
But it is the seat of the. now quiet and industrious 
Danes, who have made it rank next to Copenhagen in 
population and commerce. 

The population is upwards of 30,000. Being next 
door to Hamburg, you can hardly credit the fact of your 
being in Denmark. The railway station here is elegant 
and commodious. There is every comfort for the tra¬ 
veller ; and I could not help giving a sigh for the divi¬ 
dends of poor shareholders in our own country when I 
thought of so much money uselessly lavished on “hand¬ 
some” stations, while here, at Altona, we had nearly as 
much magnificence and more comfort at probably half 
the expense. 

“ The Danes seem to manage their railway well, ,, 
thought I, as, comfortably seated in a second class car¬ 
riage (no respectable traveller ever thinks of going in 
a first), we rushed along towards the picturesque town 
of Kiel, on the shores of the Baltic. 

Even on the rail the irresistible desire to know and 
communicate knowledge, as one of our national cha¬ 
racteristics, frequently displays itself; and very plea¬ 
sant it is, in such a situation, to find one whose 
physiognomy you like, one with whom you think the 
ice may be safely broken, while fizzing along and 
hoping soon to arrive at your destination—that period 
of hope too often a weary blank in the traveller’s 
existence ! 

From Altona we were much charmed with the 
company of an old Norwegian gentleman, in truth an 
octogenarian, formerly Prussian Consul at Bergen. 









13 


HAMBURG AND COPENHAGEN. 

. *r< 


He was bound for Copenhagen, or JCjovenliavn (in 
Danish), where he resided, the friends of his youth 
having all departed, and his loved Norway being no 
longer to him what it was of yore. Friends gone, 
country given up to the Swede, I could not help sur¬ 
veying the old Consul with intense interest; while his 
good-humoured face and gentlemanly manner fanned 
a desire to show him more than ordinary respect. He 
put me in mind of “ Croftangry,” in one of Sir 
Walter’s novels, the old man who, turning his 
thoughts homewards, finds on arrival, that— 


“ Many a lass lie loved is dead, 
And many a lad grown old.” 


Here the difference might be that, in Bergen, if any 
left, there was no friend so old as himself. Among 
other information the Consul gave us his recollections 
of the great age passed away; 

Visiting London in his early manhood, he had 
heard the Gracchus-like Wellesley speak on Indian 
affairs; he had heard the patriotic Pitt declaim; he 
had listened to the eloquence of Fox, whose bust 
Catherine of Russia had placed between those of 
Cicero and Demosthenes; and he had heard the ver¬ 
satile Sheridan speak,—Sheridan of whom the poet 
said, Nature had only formed “one such man 
and who has also been styled in immortal verse, 
“ The pride of the palace, the bower, and the hall”— 

‘ ‘ The Orator, Dramatist, Minstrel, who ran 
Through each mode of the lyre, and was Master of all!” t 


* 


Byron. 


f Moore. 





14 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


He had heard the voice of Canning in some of his 
grandest efforts, probably while pouring forth in strains 
of unsurpassed eloquence his eulogiums on Munro and 
Malcolm, two of the greatest characters in the history 
of our Indian Empire. The name of Canning, the 
orator and statesman, who was the personal friend of 
our present wonderful Premier, Lord Palmerston, led 
to some remarks about Lord Canning, the Viceroy of 
India. “ Was he considered as great a man as his 
father ?” I simply remarked, “ That there was some 
prejudice and ignorance at home and abroad regarding 
his career in India. He is a great man, and has played 
his part well in very difficult times/’ ' During the 
rebellion, and after it, he displayed indomitable cou¬ 
rage, which, now that he had completed his perilous 
navigation, led me to think of a song written by his 
father in 1802, when Pitt was at the helm of affairs, 
and Britain stood secure amidst the wreck of the 
world :— 

“ If hush’d the loud whirlwind that ruffled the deep, 

The sky if no longer dark tempests deform; 

When our perils are past, shall our gratitude sleep? 

No !—Here’s to the pilot that weather’d the storm!”* 

The Consul seemed to agree with me about Lord 
Canning, admitting the well-known fact concerning 
political as well as military matters, that to do is far 
more difficult than to know what ’twere good to do. 
Before parting, he said, “ I have now eighty years; 
hut I hope to be spared to visit your next Exhibition.” 

* The author quoted this, the first verse of the song, in a lecture 
on Periodical Literature, at Seetabuldee, in Central India. 



HAMBURG AND COPENHAGEN. 


15 


From Kiel to Korsor (on the Great Belt) we were 
conveyed by a Government steamer; and should you 
not desire to spend a few summer days at the capital 
of Holstein, you may dash into the latter harbour in 
less than twelve hours from Hamburg. 

The navigation is intricate ; the course lies through 
many islands, and the scenery is beautiful. The 
harbour of Korsor is large and commodious. To us 
the town seemed a quaint-looking place, with its red 
houses, excellent horses, and old and new-fashioned 
Danes carrying on their business, early in the morn¬ 
ing, decently and without noise. I was inclined to 
think that, in this latter particular, we more favoured 
sons of Britain might take a leaf out of the Scandina¬ 
vian book. By the harbour, an office, on which were 
conspicuous the F and crown of Denmark’s king, led 
me to think that I was now travelling to countries 
where everything that was done bore the stamp of 
royalty. Our old friend the Consul had informed us 
that the Danes, especially at Copenhagen, were very 
fond of titles. “You should always find out the title 
of a respectable Dane, and address him by it. It is 
treasured by him as the medal given by his Sovereign 
is by the true soldier!” Now, in Korsor, we evinced 
obedience by noting that Frederick the Seventh was 
King of Denmark; reserving for a more convenient 
season of study the stern fact that he was also Duke 
of Schleswig, in addition to his being Duke of Hol¬ 
stein, both these Duchies being German, or of Lower 
Saxony, and thus commencing our lesson with the 
King of all the land. The exportation of corn, and 


16 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


the scarcity of coal, were among the most remarkable 
features in trade at this seaport, which we left by rail 
for Copenhagen about seven in the morning, arriving 
at the convenient hour of ten. In the south of Europe, 
or in any bright clime of sunny skies, entering a capital 
on a rainy day is far from pleasant; in the north it 
is vexatious in the extreme. Y ou feel that you are in 
a more phlegmatic region than that of the lively and 
frivolous southerner; you expect a clear sky and a 
bracing air, and you get nothing but rain. Such was 
our lot on entering the famed capital of Denmark. 
However, wishing to make the most of our time, on 
establishing ourselves at the Hotel Royal , near the 
Palace, the rain did not prevent our immediately 
setting forth to visit the Museum and Library, for 
which the name of Copenhagen is famous throughout 
the world. It would be impossible to note in my 
limited space all that is to be seen in this interesting 
city. Suffice it to give our chief attention to three or 
four visits, the first being to the Museum just men¬ 
tioned, or that of— 

Northern Antiquities. 

Situated in a wing of the Christiansborg Palace, or 
Royal residence at Copenhagen, with Professor Thom¬ 
sen, the director or presiding genius of this museum; 
a more convenient and pleasant visit we could not 
have selected for a rainy day. We found the great 
Danish antiquary busy explaining some archseological 
mysteries to a group of listeners eager for knowledge. 


HAMBURG AND COPENHAGEN. 


17 


or, perhaps, as Sydney Smith has it, eager for “ no¬ 
velty,” “ the foundation of the love of knowledge.” 
They had come here, like ourselves, to see “ new 
grand things, new beautiful things, new excellence,” 
although, in a strict sense, everything that was to be 
seen was very old. The professor, dismissing his circle, 
took us in hand immediately; and looking from the 
cards which announced our names to the persons of 
the new arrivals from Britain, perhaps satisfying him¬ 
self that we were not of the British branch of the 
Celtse, or Celtic stock, to which Boadicea and Carac- 
tacus belonged, he led us forth with a smile to the 
chief room of curiosities, evidently considering us as 
mere babes in the cradle of antiquarian research. In 
person our director was very tall and erect, giving you 
the idea that he would have made an excellent gre¬ 
nadier, had he not rather chosen to wield other than 
modern military weapons, in those of ages long passed 
away ; or knives, spears, axes, hammers, of stone, and 
flint, and iron, according to the different periods when 
civilisation was struggling to be born, and the day of 
the steam-engine, the rifle, and the Armstrong gun 
was yet very far distant ! 

I never saw a more enthusiastic antiquary. En¬ 
treating us to survey the wondrous collection which 
he had arranged and classified, he rapidly explained 
the origin and progress of rude Scandinavian science. 
Stone, flint, iron, copper and tin, and brass—all came 
alike to him ; his facility of explanation seemed per¬ 
fectly marvellous. He was like an emissary from the 
past sent to enlighten us regarding what things had 


18 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


once been, so that we might compare them with the 
things that are. This tends to improvement; and thus 
is the enlightened and zealous antiquary useful to the 
world. The learned professor, in truth, as the saying is, 
“ had it all to himself.” Trying to get in a remark, 
perhaps about supposed early Celtic or Scythic vestiges 
in India, about ornaments, like those we saw, which 
were worn by the people of the Neilgherries, or Blue 
Mountains (to which I was no stranger), was simply 
impossible. When he had shown us all his wonders, 
he answered questions put to him readily, and with a 
touch of humour which characterised all his sayings 
and doings. “ I believe that Moses,” said he to me 
in a whisper, “performed circumcision with a flint!” 
The ancient Egyptians clearly used stone knives in 
their sacrifices. 

As a Commissary of stores, the general use of 
stone before iron, even in the manufacture of a pick¬ 
axe, interested me much. Here was a primitive one 
—a long, sharp stone, with a horn stuck through a 
hole in the centre of it! The most important part of 
a pick-axe, looking at it as an article “ in store,” is 
the eye, for which the above hole did service. If the 
eye be not broken, the damaged pick-axe is repairable 
in our day. It could not have been so in times of 
old; and it need not have been so when stones and 
horns abounded, and the art of cutting the former 
was so well known. Wondering at ancient ingenuity, 
I examined the stone chisels, arrow-heads, and ham¬ 
mers, which appeared to be of beautiful form and 
workmanship. Necklaces and other ornaments, of 


HAMBURG AND COPENHAGEN. 


19 


gold and silver, all once worn by the women of Scan¬ 
dinavia—in these I could find a strong likeness to 
valuables at Vanity Fair among the Todar beauties of 
the far East. 

Christianity was introduced into Denmark about 
1000 a. d. It is generally put down earlier (in the 
eighth and ninth centuries) ; but the Pagan religion 
was not then eradicated. In 1536, after the Refor¬ 
mation, there were many changes in the kingdom. 
All these are admirably illustrated in the Museum. 
Leaving the kingdom of the antiquary—for, having 
reigned over antiquarian science in Copenhagen for 
forty years, he may well have his house called “ king¬ 
dom”—I thought more and more of all I had read 
concerning the connection between things Scandinavian, 
or Northern, and the “ gorgeous” East. Some assert 
that the Celtse were known in lesser Asia by the names 
of Titans and Sacks, and as the Cymri in Wales, 
enough to throw light on the existence of Cromlechs 
—places of sepulture or altars—in the Carnatic of 
India. “ For the Sacks were doubtless a branch of 
the Sacse, or Scythians then it may follow that the 
Danes and Cymri, and Scythians had customs in 
common—the use of the cromlech being one of them. 
And that the Sacse, or Scythians, penetrated through 
the length and breadth of India seems more than 
probable.” In Denmark, cromlechs would seem to 
have been monuments raised over the burial-places of 
kings. However this may be, it is interesting to trace 
the passage of Buddhism—the old patriarchal system 


* Not descended from Gomer, the head of the family of Japhet, but 
closely related. 

c 2 



20 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


—into Northern Europe. This has been done by 
legends of Thor , Woden (Buddha), and Runic inscrip¬ 
tions,—the former, in Scandinavian mythology, being 
the Jupiter of the ancient Germans, from which our 
Thursday is derived; and Woden in Anglo-Saxon 
being like the Mercury of the Greeks and Romans, 
from which we derive our Wednesday ; while Runic 
may be defined, for those unaware of the tact, as an 
epithet applied to the letters and language of the Teu¬ 
tonic nations, especially the Scandinavians (such as 
the Danes, the Swedes, and the Norwegians), runa , or 
run , in the Gothic and Saxon, signifying a secret, 
mystery, or letter. I may here note a curious proba¬ 
bility, not known to many, that, from the hero of an 
Eastern legend, which passed into Europe, came the 
nursery tales of ‘ Tom Thumb,’ and ‘ Jack the Giant 
Killer/ This legend, in Siberia as well as in India, 
doubtless created a vast sensation ; and it must either 
have come from the East to the North, or have wan¬ 
dered from the North to the East; but, of course, the 
former is infinitely more probable ; and hence the 
dwarf Agastya (a Buddhist), or the hero of the story, 
being now with us, prepares the student to find the 
Devergar , “ so well known in Hindu history, in the 
Dwergars of Scandinavia,” and in the dwarfs and fairies 
of Europe ! On this subject it has been well remarked 
“ that the reverse of the proverb, ‘ Stories never lose by 
carrying/ seems to have occurred, in the progress of 
mythology north and west, into tjie tales of the nur¬ 
sery. There are, however, additions in such tales, as 
to variety of incidents.” # In Anglesey the cromlechs 
* 4 Madras Journal of Literature and Science,’ No. 33, page 95. 


HAMBURG AND COPENHAGEN. 21 

are by some supposed to have been “ altars; or even 
a sort of platform, from which the Druids addressed 
an audience.” I think that they were places of sepul¬ 
ture is the most probable, or altars beside such places; 
and from the tombs and cairns, to be found in India 
as well as in Northern Europe, were dug the numerous 
instruments and weapons, like those above alluded to, 
and other interesting relics in the Copenhagen and 
other antiquarian museums. We know of the affinity 
of language between the East and the West, or say the 
North-west; hut, passing on to a curious Runic in¬ 
scription, at Hoby, near Carlshamn, in Sweden, it will 
be more interesting to mark this, brought to public 
notice in India by the Rev. W. Taylor through the 
pages of the ‘ Madras Journal,’ one of our excellent 
vehicles of literature and science. This inscription is 
said to be the oldest of the kind in the North. The 
antiquary concludes from certain data in the first 
verse, that Hildekin, who “ received the kingdom,” 
may have ruled over the ancestors of the Danes, “ who 
had something to do with India; ” and “ Hildekin was 
otherwise Harold, a King of Denmark.” Then after 
the hewing out, the taking of the oath, and the con¬ 
secration of the runes , or the signs and letters cut in 
the stones, the latter ceremony being performed by 
Odin, the principal deity of the ancient Scandina¬ 
vians,* we read— 

“ Odin and Frey 
A nd the Aser race 
Destroy—destroy 
Our enemies.” 


* The same as the Saxon Woden. 




22 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


The Aser race, it is thought, would seem pretty evi¬ 
dently to be the same with the Asuras of Hindu fable. 
I may state here that the Hindu deity, Yama, is said 
to hold his court in the polar circle, opposite to the 
celestial north pole of Indra, the Hindu god of the 
elements, or in the station of Asuras , who warred 
with the Suras , or gods of the firmament.* But Mr. 
Taylor thinks that the combats of the Surs and Asurs, 
as they are also called, did not take place in some 
super-terrestrial region, and that these warriors were 
simply mortals with flesh and blood like ourselves. 
In the land of the Veda, as India is sometimes called, 
the Veda is represented by the significations of the 
Sura (wine and true wealth) which were received by 
the Suras, while the Asuras did not receive them. 
The matter-of-fact way, then, of' bringing the Suras 
down to earth is, whatever may come of it, worthy of 
consideration. I am quite sure that our distinguished 
British poet, Southey, would have shuddered at the 
thought, after that exquisite stanza in his ‘ Curse of 
Kehama,’ commencing— 

‘ ‘ Swift through the sky the vessel of the Suras 
Sails up the fields of ether like an angel.” 

In this Museum I am informed there is a stone- 
instrument which was dug out of the barrow near 
Leire, “ supposed to contain the tomb of Harold 
Hildeland, a Danish monarch of the eighth century.” 
But I may not here dwell much longer on such mat¬ 
ters ; still now having come from the East back to 

* Wilford—* Asiatic Researches.’ 


HAMBURG AND COPENHAGEN. 


23 


the North, let me give a brief extract from a Report 
of the Royal Society of Northern Antiquities at Co¬ 
penhagen :—“The Scandinavian antiquities, whether 
belonging to the ancient heathen period, or the 
earliest Christian times, bear so great a resemblance 
to those of Britain and Ireland, that, when accurately 
examined and described, they mutually explain and 
elucidate each other. This is the case especially 
with the Pagan stone circles, stone altars (crom¬ 
lechs?), barrows (mounds of earth or cairns), &c. 
The most ancient of such British erections are gene¬ 
rally ascribed to the Druids ; but it is very possible 
that these sages of the olden time had more in com¬ 
mon with the Drafts or Drotts of the North, than a 
mere similarity of name, or than the rearing of such 
monuments. The stone erections in the Scottish, 
Orkney, and Shetland Isles, show themselves to be 
purely Northern, or reared by people of decidedly 
Northern extraction.” With regard to the opening 
of cairns on the Neilgherry Hills, and the discovery 
of antiquities like some of those in the Northern Mu¬ 
seum, as well as to the dress of the Todar women even 
of the present day, and the ornaments they wear like 
some of those I observed with so much interest as 
they were pointed out to us by Professor Thomsen, 
Major Congreve, of the Madras Artillery, in perhaps 
one of the most erudite and remarkable papers on 
antiquities ever written, # informs us that the Thau- 
tawar women envelope themselves in cloths, and 

* ‘ The Antiquities of the Neilgherry Hills, including an Inquiry 
into the Descent of the Thautawars, or Todars. 5 


24 


NOETHEEN EUEOPE. 


decorate their persons with rings and bangles, and 
environ their waists with a brass chain. The women 
of the Scythians wore rings, bracelets, and chains. 
He opened a cairn, a few miles to the northward of 
the pleasant station of Coonoor, and found, among 
other antiquities, an urn-cover of pottery, with an 
armed figure of terrible and frightful aspect, like 
Woden of the Scythian warriors. In iron, he found 
iron knives, spears, or arrow-heads, and scissors,—the 
latter with a bent spring handle, like those on stones 
found recently at St. Andrew’s. On all these the 
hand of time had laid very heavily. In brass, there 
were bells, probably among the earliest things made 
by workers in metals; and which, as in Burmah at 
the present day, in order to keep off the birds, tinkled 
at the summit of Solomon’s temple. In gold, there 
was a broad gold ring ornamented with three rows of 
bosses. 

I should like much to have heard Professor Thom¬ 
sen, or some other of the learned sages of Copenhagen, 
on the question, which, with all our learning and re¬ 
search, has not yet been entirely decided, viz. What 
part of the earth gave origin to the Arts of Culti¬ 
vated Life ? 

When the ark of Noah, containing the sole fathers 
of the future race, comes to a station on the moun¬ 
tains of Ararat, we next find the historian depositing 
the patriarchal family in the neighbourhood, in Ar¬ 
menia. Did mankind, then, leaving their first estab¬ 
lishment in the West of Asia , spread away to the East 
of Asia , neglecting the West and North, to grow up 




HAMBURG AND COPENHAGEN. 


25 


into civilisation and importance before they or a part 
of them migrated to the North and West ? These 
quarters (North and West) remained the patrimony 
of Japhet, the eldest born of Noah, and, in right of 
such primogeniture, “ the heir of the world.’’ Per¬ 
haps, then, civilisation and science, to go to the con¬ 
clusion of the matter, were not born “ in the East,” 
after all ! But, for my own part, being a sort of 
Oriental, I am inclined to date their birth and early 
progress from the laying of the foundation of Babel or 
Babylon’s tower on the Euphrates, that progress ex¬ 
tending to the far East , even to India and China; for 
who can deny that in these countries civilisation and 
science, after a fashion, flourished during a time long 
buried in the past, while Europe was enveloped in 
savage darkness, from the sunny south to the cold 
region of Odin, or Scandinavia, in the north ? 


The Royal Library. 

Carrying a letter of introduction from a dis¬ 
tinguished librarian and antiquary of Edinburgh, to 
M. Billing, the mighty chief of books, relating to 
Scandinavian as well as general literature, at Copen¬ 
hagen, added to the pleasure we anticipated from a 
visit to the Royal Library. We had also brought a 
few books for His Majesty of Denmark, which we 
longed to present; but Frederick the Seventh being 
in Holstein, and not expected at the capital before our 
departure, to whom could we better repair for every 
information than to the Royal librarian ? He received 


26 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


us most affably; and, of course, commenced by show¬ 
ing us his vast treasures. It is impossible to get into 
the good graces of a librarian without first examining 
all he has to show you, and listening attentively to his 
remarks on the curiosities, rise, and progress of hu¬ 
man knowledge. This done, he may hear what you 
have to say on common or trifling topics; among 
such may even be reckoned the presentation of books 
to a king ; for what is anything to him in comparison 
with the beauty and arrangement of his Icelandic and 
Oriental manuscripts; his “black letter” and illu¬ 
mined volumes, on which the hand of time has 
pressed so lightly that it is hard to believe the 
story of their honoured age ? Here there are about 
500,000 volumes ; and many thousand manuscripts. 
The classified catalogue alone is equal to a private 
library, by which the works of every author may be 
easily found, thus saving much valuable time. Some 
splendid editions of the ‘ Koran,’ in beautifully written 
Arabic or Persian, led my thoughts hack to India, 
with the bearded turbanned Moonshee, explaining 
to me the different forms of writing,—the Nishki, the 
Talik , and the Shekesteh; the former the hand of the 
Arabians, who invented the characters, so easily imi¬ 
tated by our types, and who also gave the numeral 
characters for the arithmetic of Mammon-wor¬ 
shipping Europe. According to Sir William Jones, 
this hand is frequently used by the Persians, and the 
history of Nadir Shah was written in it. From the 
Persians comes that exquisite taste which adorns the 
manuscripts in public libraries. They still boast of 


HAMBURG AND COPENHAGEN. 


27 


the silky paper with its powdered ground of gold 
or silver dust—the vivid illuminations of many co¬ 
lours—sometimes the perfume of essence of roses 
or sandal-wood coming from the page, such as would 
be written by some love-sick swain to his gazelle-eyed 
beauty in the Persian land ! 

Early printed bibles, one by Gottenberg in 1450, 
and nearly all the works of British authors, were 
here; and the ‘Philosophical Transactions’ of the 
Royal Society of London occupied a conspicuous 
position in the library. While inspecting the works 
of every age* and of every nation, I came upon a 
remarkable illuminated manuscript-book, written in 
and illustrating the time of Charlemagne. 

The vivid colouring of the pictures was perfectly 
marvellous. One represented a soldier slaughtering, in 
the most cruel manner, a woman with her two children, 
reminding me of murders perpetrated in India during 
the mutiny; and thus forcing the thought, that what 
was really so terrible and heart-rending in our time had 
been fully equalled, if not surpassed, by numerous 
scenes in the dark pages of history. 

Probably this library is the greatest wonder in 
Denmark. The chief room is low and narrow, but 
of great length—I should think about three hundred 
f ee t—and it is adorned with Corinthian pillars, gilt 
above and below. Even with its many rooms and 
divisions, the Royal Library is pressed for room . in 
which to place copies of all the new works to which 

* There are manuscripts of Dante, Boccaccio, and Petrarch; also 
some in the Icelandic,—the parent language ot the North. 


28 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


it is entitled, in addition to the literary gifts which 
are continually being placed under its honoured roof. 

“ What a change from the date of publication of 
many thousands of these volumes,” thought I, turn¬ 
ing from the mighty tomes, “ to the present time of 
thick shilling volumes and penny newspapers !” Truly, 
if knowledge is power, setting arms aside, we ought to 
be the most powerful nation in the world. 

Let us now vary the sight-seeing, asking the 
reader’s pardon for all verbosity in antiquities and 
books, and take a brief ramble in some of the gardens 
and about the streets of Copenhagen. 

Copenhagen, with its 143,000 inhabitants, does not 
strike you as a busy city, and yet there is a vast deal 
of traffic here. The Danes are very fond of business 
and pleasure. Shortly after our arrival, all the city 
was alive on account of a grand fete in the Tivoli 
Gardens. These may be styled the Vauxhall or 
Cremorne of Denmark’s capital. Before paying them 
a visit, however, we drove to the Rosenburg Palace, 
or rather Castle, though it is, externally, neither like 
the one nor the other. It is, in an architectural point 
of view, a very poor affair. We could hardly believe 
that Inigo Jones had aught to do with the construc¬ 
tion of such a pile. The windows are in the worst 
taste; the steeples are better, but seeming as if they 
did not belong to the Castle at all. There is nothing 
of that beautiful proportion so often displayed by the 
architect of the first James. 

The gardens are pleasant enough, but the statues 
therein are of a very inferior description, which I 












HAMBURG AND COPENHAGEN. 


29 


could not understand in a city which gave birth to 
Thorwaldsen. 

I turned from a contemplation of the red Gothic 
edifice # and its pleasure grounds to some troops at 
drill. They were steady, and went through the manual 
and platoon with considerable dexterity and precision. 
What a change was here from the “ exercise ” of the 
warlike tribes of the Gothic or Germanic race, who, 
in the first ages of the Christian era, established them¬ 
selves in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. The Danes 
became the dominant nation in Scandinavia, and were 
the first to found a monarchical state in the rude 
North,—a state from which sprung fortresses, disci¬ 
plined troops, system, and all the accessories of 
civilisation. 

We next drove to the Tivoli, and observed on the 
way that the fortifications of the city were of some 
extent and strength. It was expected that some ten 
or twelve thousand people would be present at the 
pleasure gardens in the evening; but, on account of 
the weather, the fete was put off. Commencing a 
stroll through the city our attention was more than 
ever arrested by the immense size of the Christiansborg 
Palace. It is truly imperial, and worthy of a larger king¬ 
dom. In front of the palace paced the Danish sentry, 
a soldier-like fellow, in blue uniform, well equipped, 
with the seal-skin knapsack, sword and bayonet. 

From admiring the broad streets and regularly built 

# 

* The Regalia are kept in the Castle of Rosenburg. For a descrip¬ 
tion of all the curiosities and relics of antiquity here, the traveller is 
referred to the ‘ Handbook of Northern Europe.’ 



30 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


squares of Copenhagen, we turned to behold two 
buildings of singular appearance,—one (the Exchange) 
having a spiral steeple, formed out of the uplifted tails 
of four dragons or crocodiles; the other (a church), 
with a staircase outside leading to the summit of the 
sacred edifice. Halting in front of Thorwaldsen s 
(Thorvaldsen’s) Museum, which was shut, we lingered 
awhile beside this mausoleum of true native genius. 
The intention of the building is impressed on its 
exterior, the architecture being chiefly borrowed from 
the ancient Greek and Etruscan sepulchral edifices. 
Here the mighty Danish sculptor, the friend and pupil 
of the great Can ova, rests among his works, hardly 
inferior in execution, and in sublimity of conception 
quite equal, to the gems of sunny Italy. 

Anticipating great pleasure from a strict survey 
of them before departure, we now examined the 
frescoes exposed to public view. On the exterior of 
one side of the building is represented Thorwaldsen’s 
reception in Copenhagen, in September, 1838, after 
an absence of eighteen years in Rome, where he assi¬ 
duously studied his art, in the face of “ misfortunes 
and hindrances,” and then returned in the ship that 
brought over a part of his works for the Museum. 
On the other side is depicted the conveyance of these 
works to their destination—the various images being 
“ produced by the in-laying of different coloured ce¬ 
ments in the wall.” The facade, in fact most of the 
building, is decorated with allusion to Thorwaldsen’s 
victorious genius; and in the Victoria erected on the 
roof, the goddess, splendidly cast in bronze, stops her 




HAMBURG AND COPENHAGEN. 


31 


brazen quadriga* over the entrance, vying with all 
around in doing genius honour. 

Leaving the Museum, and passing along a principal 
canal, we entered one of the busy streets of Copen¬ 
hagen, to reach which you are forcibly reminded that 
walking is not so pleasant here as in the cities of our 
own country. The stones in the streets are pointed, 
and hard enough to make you believe you are walking 
on iron pegs; and the same being introduced beside 
narrow slabs, form an ingenious apology for a pave¬ 
ment. The shops are very inferior to those in London 
or Paris; still there is a well-to-do air about them, 
which atones for deficiency in beauty. The curious 
thing is, if you want anything really Scandinavian 
you cannot get it. French or German articles may 
be had with little difficulty. Jewellers, photographers, 
stationers, and provision merchants are plentiful. We 
found the Danish ladies passing in gay costumes to 
and fro, with the exception of a black silk or coloured 
handkerchief on the head instead of a bonnet, their 
dress in no way very remarkable, save that the much- 
abused crinoline of the south had found its way to the 
north of Europe. Expanding the skirt, it would ap¬ 
pear, is common to many countries; and, from the 
Eurasian belle of Bombay to the fair-skinned daughter 
of Scandinavia, there is obedience to the dictates of 
that tyrant, Fashion! 

We paid a visit to the Bourse,f little inferior to 

* In antiquity , a car or chariot drawn by four horses, which were 
harnessed all abreast, and not in pairs .—Imperial Dictionary. 

t Splendid room, a.d. 1640. Renovated in 1858. 


32 


NOETHEEN EUEOPE. 


the Borse (Exchange) at Hamburg; and ended a 
pleasant and interesting stroll by inspecting the admi¬ 
rable arrangements at a watch-tower for the detection 
and extinction of fire, from which Copenhagen had 
suffered so much in by-gone days. 

Tivoli. 

Next day the sun shone brightly ; the clear skies 
and bracing air of the North had a wonderful effect on 
our tempers; so we resolved, like the Danes, to be in 
“ holiday humour,” and visit “ Tivoli” in the evening. 
Our friend, the Royal librarian, had kindly undertaken 
to deliver our books (one the ‘ Transactions’ of that 
learned Society, the Antiquaries of Scotland), and let¬ 
ters accompanying them, to the King. He further 
determined to accompany us to the Tivoli Gardens, 
where he assured us would be seen everything that 
could be desired in the beautiful and amusing by the 
most fastidious critic. The Library and Tivoli were all 
in all to him; and it was pleasing to observe that he 
was one of those sensible literary men who like a little 
pleasure occasionally, and emerging from their musty 
tomes and dusty book-shelves, can laugh and be gay 
with a far greater zest than the dissipated and idle. I 
am sure that no hard-worked editor of a journal in 
Great Britain, be he daily or Saturday reviewer, ever 
looked forward to a day’s fishing or shooting with 
more delightful anticipations than those possessed by 
our friend, who called for us punctually at the appointed 
time. A good cab and excellent horse (Denmark is 


HAMBURG AND COPENHAGEN. 


33 


■#- 


famous for a good breed of horses) soon appeared at 
the door, and we drove off rapidly to the scene of action. 
Fifteen thousand people, at least, were to enjoy Tivoli 
to-night. The Danish character was to prove itself 
more agreeable than is generally supposed; the Dane 
was to appear less “ breeched,” less “ ponder¬ 
ous,” and less “ saturnine” than that master of wit 
and wisdom, Sydney Smith, makes him out to be. 
Girls of pure Scandinavian descent, like Brenda in the 
‘ Pirate’ of Sir Walter, and tall as Northern Rosalind, # 
were to smile and be gay without being frivolous and 
volatile. But, hark ! the sound of music. And no 
sooner are we in the gardens than “The procession is 
coming !” falls on the ear as the common cry. The 
music is nearer and nearer. The “ boy band” of Tivoli, 
from which proceed the welcome sounds, appear among 
the trees; they pass near the Chinese temples, the 
oriental-like stalls, and the anxious spectators, before 
whom the grotesque and beautiful train will now pass 
by. And first, behind the music, we behold men, girls, 
and children on horseback; then triumphal chariots, 
in which ride the representatives of ancient Scandina¬ 
vian warriors ; then clowns—jesters of the old time— 
appear ; and the rear is brought up by more actors in 
grotesque costumes, and more people on horseback— 
all of whom move along in formal march amidst the 
applause and laughter of thousands of delighted spec¬ 
tators. That equestrian on the cream-coloured steed 

_that sw T eet little girl on the white horse—reminds us 

of Astley’s. But I think of the clown as the leading 

* Sliakspeare’s 4 As You Like It.” 

D 





34 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


character in this triumphal precession. There is no 
mistake about the time-honoured representative of 
Folly; and when he passed by, what a troop of clowns 
and jesters rushed to my memory! Shade of Odin ! Was 
it Denmark that gave us the clown ? What a “ be-all” 
in merriment he is ! Who could do without him in the 
good old times ? When Melancholy came, at “ Call the 
fool!” he vanished, and Saxon Cedrics, with their 
Wambas, feasted and were glad. “Marian, I say!” 
shouts Sir Toby Belch—“a stoup of wine !”—[ Enter 
Clown.] “ Here comes the fool, i’ faith,” cries Sir 
Andrew Ague-cheek. 

From Tarleton of our ancient stage to Joe Grimaldi 
of the modern, or, later still, to Tom Matthews, what 
a force there is in the laughing philosopher’s “ Here 
we are !” Shakspeare’s clown sings— 

“ A great while ago the world began.” 

“ A great while ago !” may lead us to the origin of 
clowns—to the clown who first set the table or the 
theatre in a roar ; but I have no time to search. Enough 
—all alike have the same “end-all” here! “This 
same skull, sir,” says the Clown to Hamlet, Prince of 
Denmark, “ was Yorick’s skull, the king’s jester !” 

I could not get at the story of the procession, if 
there was one to tell. Indian mythology would not 
greatly help me. Of course there was a lover. One 
of many maidens recovering from a trance, perhaps, 
sought to be his bride. An altercation began, wdiich 
ended by their being all given in marriage to the hero, 
who built “Tivoli” in Copenhagen, making gardens, 


HAMBURG AND COPENHAGEN. 


35 


abounding in delights, which rivalled the bowers of 
Odin, and which frequently he visits, in his chariot, 
in triumphal procession, delighted to see and be seen! 
This is an adaptation with a vengeance. 

The illuminations, all done with economical var¬ 
nished paper lamps, are very splendid; and, as the night 
wears on, you may fancy yourself walking in a garden 
among millions of beautiful fireflies in the far East! 
At Coorg, in India, these insects teem with such lustre 
that every leaf seems to have its own fairy lamp.”* 
The people are very orderly, and there is every oppor¬ 
tunity offered to those who love to study character 
and variety of costume. There are old ladies, of 
Dutch extraction, from an adjacent island (Amak), 
very quaintly dressed, who move about with an inde¬ 
pendent air; there are other old ladies, with gold 
cloths at their backs, and wearing fine and costly 
shawls, who come from some strange quarter; there 
are beautiful lively children, with bright eyes full of 
intelligence; and then there are comely specimens of 
maidens from Sweden and Norway—daughters of 
whom Scandinavia may well be proud. All these add 
grace and beauty to Tivoli. Some of them enjoying 
the rather perilous trip over the “ Montagne de la 
Russe ; ”f others at the wheel of Fortune for a toy to 
please childhood left at home; and others listening 
to eloquent music proceeding from an orchestra led 
by a most accomplished Dane. Some of the male 
visitors are strolling about the gardens, which abound 

* Rev. H. Moegling. 

f Russian Mountain, as it is called. 

D 2 



36 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


in beautiful trees and shrubs ; some are smoking, 
others are drinking, and some have joined the merry 
dance on a spacious platform. The light falling on 
these Northern sons, I could not help observing how 
very like the Scotch on the coast of Fife they were ! 
This led me once more into a reflective mood; and I 
thought of the ninth century, and fugitives from 
Scandinavia, to escape the cruelties of Harold the 
Fair-haired, # settling on the coasts of Iceland and 
Scotland ! 

The Skager Rack, between Denmark and Norway, 
is exactly opposite the Fife coast. It is said that 
Nelson, our greatest naval hero, was an Anglo-Dane. 
I became convinced that Adam Smith (born at Kir- 
caldy), our greatest political economist, was a Scotch 
one! To go no further, the Danish “ barn ” was 
equivalent to our Scotch bairn , as our worthy friend 
the Librarian took care to explain to us. The “ re¬ 
storation ”—not a bad name for the strengthening of 
the inner man—was common in the gardens ; but our 
party agreed to sup in the hotel. The equestrian 
circus, the concert, and a brilliant display of fireworks 
near a Chinese pagoda, with other amusements, kept 
the numerous assembly up to a very late hour, before 
which we returned home, and thus ended our visit to 
Tivoli! ‘ 

* Of Norway. 


HAMBURG AND COPENHAGEN. 


37 


The German-Danish Question. 

(Schleswig and Holstein .) 

“ It is good not to try experiments in states, except the necessity 
be urgent, or the utility evident.”— Bacon's Essays. 

Had we sojourned in Kiel, — not 140 sea-miles 
from Copenhagen, with its beautiful scenery, and which 
was found to be so excellent and useful a naval station 
during the Russian war,*— we would have been wit¬ 
nesses to a great political demonstration.f Far less 
enthusiasm than might have been expected was said 
to have characterized the proceedings. There were no 
riots, and little shouting. Even what seemed tanta¬ 
mount to rebellion was done decently and in order. 
“We know nothing here,” said one who knew about 
the matter, “ of that effervescent spirit which induces 
people, as they do elsewhere, to expose themselves to 
the risk of being killed for the sake of ‘ Liberty, Fra¬ 
ternity, and Equality.’ ” 

Final emancipation, to go to the root of the matter, 
both in Holstein and Schleswig, from the Danish 
“ yoke,” is the object sought by the people of these 
Duchies, which is styled the German-Danish Question ; 
and for the proper understanding of which important 
political “touch-stone” of German “unity,” as it 
has been styled, I hope to collect a few notes from the 
best sources. 

* Population, about 8000. University, anti-Danish in spirit. 

t A very good account of this demonstration appeared in the 
‘ Caledonian Mercury ’ of September 5th, under the head of “ Germany 
and the Baltic. (From our own correspondent.) ” 



38 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


Denmark, the chief seat of the ancient Cirnbri , or 
Scandinavians, plays a most important part in the 
history of the Middle Ages; in fact, during that 
period, so much of British and European consequence 
is wrapped up with it, that it may be considered one 
of the great bases of history. From Denmark came 
the tribes that peopled Norway and Sweden ; and it 
was regarded “ as the mother-country of these great 
colonies, and as the cradle of the religion, the poetry, 
and the traditions of the Scandinavians.” As the 
English language is now universally sought after—in 
the North no gentleman considering his education 
finished without some knowledge of it—so the heralds 
of European civilisation formerly acknowledged the 
superiority, and boasted in a knowledge, of the D'insk 
tunga , or Danish tongue. 

Ancient Germany, it must be kept in mind, con¬ 
tained the whole of modern Germany, Denmark, Nor¬ 
way, Sweden, Finland, Livonia, and the greater part 
of Poland; and it was peopled by the tribes of one 
great nation, “ whose complexion, manners, and lan¬ 
guage denoted a common origin, and preserved a 
striking resemblance. ’ ’ 

It was under the well-known Canute the Great, 
in the beginning of the eleventh century, that Den¬ 
mark appeared in the zenith of its glory. Its extent 
of dominion was great, and its power was everywhere 
to be feared. In the Middle Ages, Scandinavia, in 
fact, meant Denmark alone. The Isle of Man was 
then the rendezvous of the Scandinavian pirates, who 
descended on the neighbouring coasts of Great Britain 



HAMBURG AND COPENHAGEN. 


39 


and Ireland, spreading terror all around. One of the 
most memorable defeats of the Danes, was that given 
by Alexander, King of Scotland, about 1266, when he 
compelled the King of Man to do homage, and made 
the island tributary to Scotland, which it remained 
till the reign of Edward the Third of England. Pro¬ 
bably a good deal of the Danish blood on the coasts 
of Great Britain came from the Isle of Man ; and it 
may be a caution to those who love long pedigrees not 
to push their ardent inquiries after ancestry too far, for 
fear of their finding themselves, by some curious pro¬ 
cess, allied to what Shylock styles “ water-rats,”* or 
to the Danish pirates of the Middle Ages ! 

About this time, then, Denmark had attained the 
summit of her glory. “Holstein, Lauenburg, Meck¬ 
lenburg, Riigen, Pomerania, Esthonia, Carelia, and 
part of Prussia were subjected to the Danish sway, 
and in Denmark laws were promulgated which still 
form the basis of the national legislation.” Before the 
end of the fourteenth century, nearly all these con¬ 
quests were lost, and Denmark appeared to be in a 
transition state. In 1387, Queen Margaret mounted 
the throne, formed by her hereditary right what is 
styled the union of Calmar,f and was acknowledged 
Sovereign of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. The 
latter kingdom, I may note, dates its being under 
Danish sway from the time of Canute. Queen Mar¬ 
garet has been styled “ The Semiramis of the North.” 

In the middle of the fifteenth century (1448), the 

* See ‘ Merchant of Venice.’ 

t In Sweden, formerly a fort of great strength. 


40 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


crown of Denmark fell to Christian, Count of Olden¬ 
burg, who founded the present royal family of the 
kingdom. A German dynasty thus begun, the Duchies 
of Schleswig and Holstein # being most convenient 
for Denmark, especially for maritime purposes, were 
deemed of peculiar value, and, in a political sense at 
least, were appropriated accordingly. Now that the 
“ unity” of Germany has become one of the great poli¬ 
tical questions of the day, the question—Danish ?—or 
German?—is a very important one. Historically speak¬ 
ing, the answer is simply, Danish, by all means ! But 
King William of Prussia, who is evidently aiming at the 
title of Emperor of Germany (and why should he not 
obtain it?), seems to think otherwise. Now, to conclude 
the slight historical retrospect, while thinking of the 
value of the saying, To understand history is to under¬ 
stand man. Frederick Duke of Holstein having em¬ 
braced the opinions of Luther, in 1536, the Protestant 
religion was established there by Christian the Third. 
The name of Holstein thus becomes inseparably allied 
with the establishment of Lutheranism in Denmark. 
It might he well, therefore, for this reason alone, not 
to try an experiment in the State, except the neces¬ 
sity be urgent, or the utility evident. Truly, what a 
whirlpool of politics exists in our day! Europe and 
Kossuth will have nothing to do with “ faithless Aus¬ 
tria.” France, Prussia, Germany, and Italy—all have 
their parts to play; the former three, probably, to com¬ 
mence action in the north, while the latter is rapidly 
finishing her noble part in the south of Europe ! 

* Holstein is separated from Schleswig by the river Eyder. 




HAMBURG AND COPENHAGEN. • 41 

It is curious to remark at the present time, how 
every proposed act of aggression is immediately attri¬ 
buted to the French Emperor, as if ambition only 
rested with one man, and he reigned the political 
Fiescho of the day. He was to get hold of Sardinia 
not long since; then he was to seize the Rhine pro¬ 
vinces ; in Egypt, the new canal is to lead to the over¬ 
throw of our power in the East; and now a plan of 
action in the North is talked of. The British Lion 
waits patiently, and simply growls, What is it to be ? 
Lessening the power and resources of Denmark for 
the sake of aiding in the consolidation of Germany, 
would, in my humble opinion, neither benefit Great 
Britain nor Sweden. Early in the eighteenth century, 
it may be remarked, the Danes, through the madness 
of Christian the Second, lost the sovereignty of Swe¬ 
den. In 1523, the Danes were expelled from that 
country by Gustavus Vasa, since which it has been 
independent, and promises to be in modern times what 
Denmark was in days of yore. Norway, after, for so 
many centuries, belonging to Denmark, was, at the 
peace of Paris, in 1814, united to Sweden. And so 
the glory of the once mighty Dane—the skilful, re¬ 
morseless “ sea-king ”— of the country which aided 
our civilisation — whose Canute, for his reproof of 
flattery by the sea-side, is impressed on the memory 
v of childhood—seemed to pass away ! It has been well 
remarked by an English writer* of celebrity, that 
“ there is much in our Scandinavian ancestry to be 

* E. S. Creasy, M.A., Professor of History in University College, 
London. 


42 


NORTHERN EURORE. 


proud of; and we owe to it probably much of that 
fondness for a seafaring life, of that propensity to ad¬ 
venturous voyages and distant colonization, and of 
that commercial activity, as well as of that pre-emi¬ 
nence in maritime warfare, which are such remark¬ 
able and such valuable characteristics of our English 
nation. ” 

The kingdom of Denmark, properly so called, con¬ 
sists only of the peninsula of North Jutland, the 
islands between Jutland and Sweden, and the island 
of Bornholm. Other lands and duchies—those of 
Schleswig and Holstein in particular—have from time 
to time been added ; and now the King, having among 
his possessions* what formed part of the German 
empire, ranks as a member of the Germanic Con¬ 
federation,! the origin of wdiich is as follows :—In 
1806, the title of Emperor of Germany was relin¬ 
quished for that of Emperor of Austria. In 1815, 
the sovereign states of Germany were formed into a 
permanent and deliberative assembly, holding a fede¬ 
rative diet “for maintaining the external and internal 
security, the independence and inviolability of the 
Confederate States,”—which are bound not to make 
war on each other, and to do nothing contrary to 
the interests of the Confederation. Of this great 
assembly, then, the Emperor of Austria became presi- 

i 

* Between 53° and 58° N.L. 

t The Duchies of Holstein and Lauenburg have three votes in the 
Germanic Confederation. The latter originally formed part of the 
Hanoverian dominions; it was then transferred to Prussia, and then 
given in exchange for Pomerania and Riigen, which had been ceded to 
Denmark in lieu of Norway and Lapland. 



HAMBURG AND COPENHAGEN. 


43 


dent, he having the principal state. Prussia became 
the second, or next in importance; and now the King 
of that country is busy, with the assistance of a large 
portion of the people of Germany, in forming a navy> 
it is said, to aid in the settlement of the Schleswig- 
Holstein question. Bremen,* with an ambition worthy 
of the old Hanse days, submitted a plan for the forma¬ 
tion of a German fleet, according to which “ Prussia 
would undertake to construct a fleet sufficiently strong 
to guard the coast against any attacks by Denmark, 
and to protect the German flag in Eastern Asia.” 

Situated at the mouth of the Baltic, and possessing 
some splendid ports, with a population of upwards of 
2,000,000 (in the monarchy, say 2,600,000), and pos¬ 
sessing the materiel and talent for the formation of a 
great naval power, I, for one, should be sorry to see 
Denmark lose an inch of territory; and should this 
ever be endeavoured by force, I trust that Great 
Britain, and Sweden in particular, will do their utmost 
to prevent it. The all-powerful navy of Great Britain, 
with the fleets of Denmark and Sweden, should ever 
be prepared, from their very position in the north 
of Europe, to act in concert. As far as Denmark 
is concerned, let those who think of her only as a 
declining power recollect that even in her ashes may 
live her “wonted fires.” 

I asked a Danish gentleman in Copenhagen to 


* Bremen, Lubeck, Frankfort, and Hamburg (the free cities) have 
each a vote in the Confederation, of which Lubeck was the capital. 
But the meetings are held at Frankfort-on-the-Maine, the new capital 
of the Confederation. 


44 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


explain the Schleswig-Holstein affair in as few words 
as possible. The object of the Germans was, he said, 
to gain their fine ports. Schleswig he considered 
purely Danish. # After this, a German gentleman 
remarked to me, on hearing what I repeated about 
the question, “ What would be the use of their ports 
to us, and how could we take them, having no navy ? ” 
In Schleswig, I read, that the Danish element was 
more in the ascendant than in Holstein; and that 
the Danish clergy and police there do their utmost 
to keep the “ might of Denmark’s crown ” before 
the people. Be this as it may, even supposing the 
German element to be equally strong in both duchies, 
Denmark’s pretensions to them, some may think, 
should no more be disputed, than should British pre¬ 
tensions be disputed at Delhi or Poonah, because the 
Mahomedans wish another Mogul, and the Mahrattas 
another Peishwah! 

As far back as twenty years ago the Danes first 
attempted to sever Schleswig from Holstein, and to 
incorporate it with the kingdom of Denmark. The 
German side of the question is that “ the Danish 
people have no rights in reference to Schleswig, any 
more than have the Danish Government; one man 
alone in Denmark has rights in this respect, namely, 
King Frederick VII.; it is only as Sovereign Duke 
of Schleswig, but by no means as King of Denmark, 
that such a right belongs to him.” In 1848, Lord 

* In some geographies it is put down as in Denmark Proper. The 
population of Schleswig, in 1845, was 362,000; that of Holstein 
479,364. * 


HAMBURG AND COPENHAGEN. 


45 


Palmerston, the great arbiter of the world in all points 
of dispute, proposed to divide Schleswig “ according to 
the nationalities , and to incorporate the north of that 
duchy with Denmark, and the south with Holstein, 
under the legitimate and hereditary succession of the 
House of Schleswig-Holstein.” It was considered 
that by this means alone can the German element be 
withdrawn from the body politic of the Scandinavian 
kingdom. 

It must be pleasing for Scotchmen to observe the 
intercourse which is now being carried on between 
the Firth of Forth and Denmark. Wheat and barley 
grow to great perfection in the two duchies; the latter 
commodity in particular, which is freely exported to 
Scotland. We had an opportunity, while passing 
through a portion of Holstein, of observing the luxu¬ 
riance of the crops. 

Notwithstanding all that has been talked about 
Danish oppression in Schleswig and Holstein, the 
Danish institutions and the state of education in the 
monarchy have met with high praise from all dis¬ 
interested observers. The method followed has been 
styled “ not only judicious but exemplary.” Regard¬ 
ing education, I note a most pleasing fact, that “ it is 
a very rare circumstance to find anyone, even among 
the poorest, who cannot both read and write; and 
among those who are liable to serve in the army, 
there is scarcely one who is not possessed of these 
acquirements.”* It has been affirmed that, were 
Denmark connected with Sweden and Norway in a 
* Correspondent of the ‘ Mercury,’ September 23, 1861. 


46 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


union from which the German element had been 
eliminated by the partition of Schleswig, she would 
see before her “ a development and a future altogether 
different from what is possible in her present position 
in Europe; ” but it may also be said, if, through 
Danish instrumentality, no German and Danish ele¬ 
ments in the duchies can be well managed and well 
educated, would the King of Sweden accept of such 
a union when stripped of the power which Denmark 
claims over them, and the exercise of which had been 
denied to Charles XV. or any future king ? I have 
heard that the latter supports the Danish pretensions 
to the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. With¬ 
out these I do not think there could be a union. 
They are possessions of vast importance in Northern 
Europe. But with them, true enough, in the words 
of an admirable writer on the subject* (in favour 
of Germany and the partition of Schleswig) with 
whom we may agree,—“To effect the union of the 
Scandinavian tribes it needs but a resolution of the 
Danish King and Diet that, on the extinction of 
the male line of the present dynasty, the King of 
Sweden and Norway shall succeed to the crown of 
Denmark.” I may note, in conclusion, that it was 
the Angles, or Saxon people who dwelt in Holstein, 
who first came over to assist Vortigern against the 
Piets and Scots, a.d. 450. (For more information on 
the German-Danish Question, see Appendix.) 

* ‘Germany, Denmark, and the Scandinavian Question.’ Lon¬ 
don, 1861. 


HAMBURG AND COPENHAGEN. 


47 


Thorwaldsen. 

A visit to the Royal stables in Copenhagen, which 
have accommodation for two hundred horses, must 
not be omitted by the traveller. We saw some splen¬ 
did animals, “up to any weight,” including pure-white 
Arab-Norwegian steeds, kept for state occasions. From 
the horse, perhaps the most graceful and dignified 
object which presents itself to the eyes of the sculp¬ 
tor, let us now proceed to the Museum of Sculp¬ 
ture, and gaze on some of the works of Thorwaldsen, 
whose name is associated with everything that is 
grand and noble. Famous as his horses are, he is 
best known by his lions,—the lion couchant and his 
lion blessed which have made him, for animals, in sculp¬ 
ture what Sir Edwin Landseer is in painting. The 
father of the great Danish sculptor was an Icelander, 
and earned his living by carving figure-heads for ships. 
At an early age, the son, Bertel, was called upon to 
assist his father in his labours on the wharf. Young 
Thorwaldsen’s figure-heads seemed to speak, as if 
entreating iEolus to waft the ship along; and hence 
the foundation of that genius which soon after gained 
high honours from the Academy at his birth-place, 
Copenhagen. We have “ self-help,” national and in¬ 
dividual, abundantly exemplified in our own country; 
and it was the innate power of self-help which was 
the secret of all Thorwaldsen’s success in life. “ Hea¬ 
ven helps those who help themselves,” is not confined 



/ 


48 NQETHEEN EUEOPE. 

to Great Britain; and here we have an instance in 
Denmark of a poor lad, born of poor parents, becom¬ 
ing, next to Canova, the greatest sculptor of his age. 
In variety, perhaps, the pupil is greater than the mas¬ 
ter. Woman, which subject Burke, in his ‘ Essay 
on the Sublime and Beautiful ’ (as was to be ex¬ 
pected from such a sweet-mouthed, chivalrous orator), 
ranks number one, is done ample justice toby Canova. 
We think of him as the master of such works of art 
in sculpture as the Venus, dancing girls, and 4 Bene¬ 
volence.’ In Thorwaldsen the range seems to he 
world-wide ; and I became more and more impressed 
with this idea as I surveyed his works in the Museum. 
The statue of Guttenberg, the first printer of the Bible, 
is with a relief on the pedestal holding forth the inven¬ 
tion of the movable types and of the printing press. 
From this earnest face we turn to the marble statue 
of Schiller, the Shakspeare of Germany, and author 
of the history of the 4 Thirty Years’ War.’ In no 
man does universality appear to shine more than in 
Schiller; and in Thorwaldsen’s fine figure of the 
poet, with the wreath encircling his brow, we have 
a noble representation of the triumph of genius. 
There are some sayings of his which we like to 
treasure up. One, on his being married, “ How 
different, does life now begin to appear, seated at 
the seat of a beloved wife, instead of being forsaken 
and alone, as I have so long been !” The other is, in 
the last scene of all, when he said with a happy and 
lively air, “Many things are now becoming clearer 
and clearer to me ! ” No man who loves literature 


HAMBURG AND COPENHAGEN. 


49 


could fail to admire the sculptor’s art as here brought 
out in the thoughtful face of Schiller. From noble 
equestrian statues, and liqns, grave monuments,—all 
affecting and beautiful,—magnificent figures of Christ 
and the Apostles, busts innumerable, and full-lengths 
of heroes and heroines of every land,—we halt for 
a while before a shepherdess with a nest of Cupids. 
A little child is escaping from the nest, and the 
mother is putting forth her arms to catch it as it flut¬ 
ters in the air, which reminded me of Charles Lamb’s 
dream of ‘ The Child Angel.’ His £ Angelet ’ sprang 
forth, fluttering its rudiments of pinions, and was re¬ 
covered into the arms of full-winged angels. Its birth 
was not of the unmixed vigour of heaven; but, being 
the production of earth and heaven, it could not taste 
of death, “ by reason of its adoption into immortal 
palaces : but it was to know weakness and reliance, 
and the shadow of human imbecility.”* 

The celebrated statue of ‘ Jason,’ so much ad¬ 
mired by Canova, and ‘ The Triumph of Alexander,’ 
are among Thorwaldsen’s finest works. Nothing can 
be finer than the casts of our Saviour with the Apostles, 
in the Museum; and you at once feel that the figure of 
‘ The Man of Sorrows ’ is the production of an artist 
in the highest walk of art. In ‘ The Church of Our 
Lady ’ (Vor Frue Kirke) there are some of the master¬ 
pieces of Thorwaldsenf—above all, what is styled 
“ that wondrous statue of the Christ,” to see which 

* Essays of ‘ Elia.’ 

t The Hall of Christ in the Museum, contains casts of all the sta¬ 
tues in the Frue Kirke. 

E 




50 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


alone is worthy of a visit to Copenhagen. I have often 
thought it a very strong argument in favour of the 
Christian religion, the fact of the greatest sculptors, 
painters, and writers, of many ages, expending so much 
time and labour, and bringing such a force of genius 
to bear, on the subject of the Saviour of the world ! 

£ Thorwaldsen leaning on Hope 5 tells its own 
story. From such a work I fancied a useful lesson 
might be learned. It was Hope, in a great measure, 
that changed the once poor carver of figure-heads into 
the wealthy and independent sculptor, who, on his 
return from Rome to Copenhagen the second time, 
was welcomed like a royal prince to his native city ; 
the streets, the canals, and the shores filled with spec¬ 
tators ; boats in the harbour crowded with eager men, 
women, and children ; the horses unharnessed from 
his carriage, which was drawn along in triumph by the 
people ! Here, indeed, was the triumph of Hope and 
Perseverance ! He had given three thousand pounds 
towards the erection of the Museum in which I now 
stood admiring his works. And then his funeral— 
how different to that sometimes awarded to genius in 
our own country ! Tens of thousands of the people 
of Copenhagen stood in rows, uncovered, while his 
remains passed by to their final resting-place,—the 
King himself taking part in the ceremony,—and the 
Crown-Prince of Denmark following, as a mourner, to 
the grave ! 

In the statue which has produced these remarks, 
and in a painting, by Blunck , of ‘ Thorwaldsen amongst 
Danish Artists in a Roman Osteri, or Inn/ I thought 


HAMBURG AND COPENHAGEN. 


51 


I could discern a likeness to an esteemed citizen of 
modern Athens,—one of our greatest modern sculp¬ 
tors, of whom Scotland may be justly proud. In 
addition to his many works of great merit, he has just 
finished an admirable bust of the Prince of Wales. 
But nothing pleased me more, on my return from “ a 
foreign strand,” than gazing on the Scott monument, 
and beholding, under the lower groined arch, the sit¬ 
ting statue of Sir Walter, with his dog Maida, by this 
eminent sculptor. The unfortunate designer of Scott’s 
monument was a self-taught architect, and the son of 
a shepherd ; and, though in different branches of art, 

I could not help comparing his untimely end # with 
the long and useful life of Thorwaldsen, the gifted 
Dane. Concerning “ Self-help ” among eminent 
sculptors, Flaxman and Chantrey, perhaps, are the 
most wonderful examples in Great Britain. The former 
began his studies as a poor plaster-cast seller, and 
the latter as an apprentice to a carver and gilder. 
John Flaxman’s wife used to say to him, “ Work and 
economize ! ” and, after all, this is the sure way to 
eminence and fortune in all trades and professions. 
Thorwaldsen never married; so escaped what the great 
painter, Sir Joshua Reynolds, wrongly predicted of Flax- 
man, the chance of being “ ruined for an artist.” 

The tomb of Thorwaldsen is in the outer, or court 
yard of the Museum; and his body was deposited 
here on the 6th of September, 1848, when the build¬ 
ing was about to be opened. The large granite slab 

* “ He was suddenly deprived of life before his great work, the 
Scott Monument, was half finished .”—The Scottish Nation. 


52 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


is very simple, announcing his birth and death 1770 
and 1844. A few green shrubs and a rose in full 
bloom, while we were there, adorned his lonely tomb; 
and here the mighty Danish sculptor sleeps, sur¬ 
rounded by his own immortal works ol genius, calling 
to memory the simple inscription written by the great 
Sir Christopher, the architect of St. Paul’s, “ Si 

QUiERAS MONUMENTUM CIRCUMSPICE ! ” 

[Strange enough, after writing the above few notes 
on Thorwaldsen and his works, I discovered, in ‘ The 
Diary of an Invalid,’ the following passage :— January 
10th, 1818 (Rome). “ With the most lively recol¬ 
lection of Canova, I went this morning to examine the 
Studio of Thorwaldsen, a Danish sculptor; whose 
works are much more to my fancy. There is a fresh¬ 
ness and originality in his designs, guided by the 
purest taste. What can be more elegant and beau¬ 
tiful than his basso-relievo of Night ? . . . There 

is a Shepherd , too, which is a delightful specimen of 
simplicity and nature ; and the charm of these statues 
is, that while they emulate, they have not borrowed 
anything from the works of the ancients.” I thought 
it a pleasing coincidence to find two “ Invalids ” at 
such a long interval, thus uniting in similar admira¬ 
tion of the great Thorwaldsen.] 

What Rabelais says of that frequent occupation in 
travel, paying the reckoning, being the one unpleasant 
thing in a man’s life, I really did think true on our 
last morning in Copenhagen. I had a feeling of regret 
at so soon departing from a city which had stamped 
the image of Denmark indelibly on my memory. But 


HAMBURG AND COPENHAGEN. 


53 


the land of the Swede was now to be visited; and, 
after that, Russia. There was, therefore, no time to 
spare ; while the too hastily formed ideas of a Northern 
winter coming on in another month or two made me, 
at least, an ardent “ Exile ” from the East, wish to be 
excused having the heat of India so rapidly taken out 
of my body. 

We were at an early hour on our way to the “ Mer¬ 
chant’s Harbour” (as Copenhagen (Kjovenhavn) is 
styled in Danish), and soon on board the steamer 
(Angfartyet) ‘ Excellensen Toll,’ under the command 
of Captain Mattson (fordh af Kapten Mattson), bound 
for Gottenburg, in Sweden. I had now seen Copen¬ 
hagen from different points of view, and I believed it 
to be the most uniform and best built city of the North. 
The city is situated on the east shore of the island of 
Zeeland ; and the haven, the chief glory of Denmark’s 
capital, I found well crowded with ships. I believe 
that one of the most beautiful views can be enjoyed 
from the ‘ Castell,’ above the 4 Long Line.’ You 
take in at once the town, the harbour, and the 4 4 spark¬ 
ling blue” Sound, between Denmark and Sweden, and 
which 44 washes many a beautiful group of islands be¬ 
longing to one or the other of these countries.” From 
the 4 Frue Kirke ’ tower, another splendid view of the 
city and the coast of Sweden is presented to the 
traveller. 

Before starting, I gazed on the merchantmen and 
ships of war, of which some half-dozen frigates were 
lying in the harbour, with considerable interest. The 
commerce of Denmark seemed to he in a thriving state; 


54 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


and now I was led into a train of reflections regarding 
former Danish connection with the East Indies. The 
government of British India has now passed entirely 
into the hands of Her Britannic Majesty; and, in 1845, 
just ninety years after the Danish flag had been first 
hoisted in the famous town of Serampore, Denmark’s 
traffic had seemed to cease for ever with Bengal. The 
English colours were then hoisted in a town which 
had really seen the golden days of commerce. While 
England was engaged in hostilities with America, and 
France and Holland, as many as twenty-two ships 
were, in nine months, cleared out from the Danish 
port, “ amounting in the aggregate to more than ten 
thousand tons.” The Danish East-India Company was 
then a great fact; and their factors, in the receipt of 
salaries not exceeding twenty pounds a month, drank 
champagne at eight pounds a dozen, and “ in a few 
years returned to Denmark with large fortunes.” That 
prince of merchants, the late John Palmer, of Calcutta, 
the agent of the Danish Company, assured one of our 
greatest Indian journalists that he has sat, day after 
day, in the godowns* at Serampore, counting and 
weighing out goods, and that he seldom realized less 
than a lakh of rupees, or ten thousand pounds, a year ! 

At the beginning of the present century, while the 
Bay of Bengal swarmed with French privateers, the 
British merchants of Calcutta eagerly availed them¬ 
selves of the neutral flag of Denmark. Insurances had 
risen to “a prohibitory rate and now it was cur¬ 
rently reported that some of the Calcutta merchants 

* Storehouses. 


HAMBURG AND COPENHAGEN. 


55 


despatched vessels under Danish colours to the Isle of 
France, purchased their own cargoes (which had fallen 
into the hands of the French) at a reduced rate, and 
brought them back for sale in Calcutta*. 

In 1808, Danish prosperity ceased in Bengal. Eng¬ 
land, as it is said, “ robbed Denmark of her fleet at 
Copenhagen,” and the glory of Serampore, as a trading 
port in India, fell! I could not look on the few excel¬ 
lent steamers and frigates in the Copenhagen harbour 
without thinking if it were possible for the best sailors 
in the North to encounter all their enemies at sea again. 
With England, of course, they can now never com¬ 
pete ; but they might be our most useful allies, and give 
us the benefit of their nautical skill and experience in 
the difficult and dangerous seas of Northern Europe. 
And more, Denmark could greatly assist us in man¬ 
ning our navy in case of war; Sweden and Norway 
also contributing their aid to such a noble purpose. 
The old fire still remains in the Dane, and we should 
make use of it to our advantage, and to his, if we can. 
Let us recollect that, after the conversion of the Danes 
to Christianity, Anglo-Dane and Anglo-Saxon blended 
freely together. True enough, we were once fierce 
enemies; but much of our early glory is attributable 
to fighting with the Danes ! Should they ever again 
come, we have another Alfred to be at them ! Our 
islands are no longer in danger of being invaded by 
Norwegian and Danish pirates. All these things now 
only exist in history and in poetry ; and in such safe 

* See a capital article—I believe by Mr. Marshman—‘ Notes on 
the Right Bank of the Hooghly Calcutta Be view, No. 8, p. 497. 


56 


NOETHEEN EUEOPE. 


magazines I love to think of them,—of the days when 
the Hebrides were on the alert, when Reullura ( Gaelic ), 
“ beautiful star,” shone— 

“ When watch-fires burst from across the main, 

From Eona, and Uist, and Skye, 

To tell that the ships of the Dane 
And the red-hair’d slayers were nigh ! ”— Campbell. 


And again, of the British fleet, under Nelson (1801), 
at the battle of the Baltic, so gloriously sung by the 
far-famed Bard of Hope, Thomas Campbell, causing us 
to wish for another Nelson to command our fleets, and 
metal as good as that of the gallant Danes to fight with. 

As we steamed out of harbour, I could not refrain 
from repeating the first verse of this most admirable 
and spirited ode, which, if Campbell had never written 
anything else, would have given him a deathless repu¬ 
tation :— 

“ Of Nelson and the North, 

Sing the glorious day’s renown, 

When to battle fierce came forth 
All the might of Denmark’s crown, 

And her arms along the deep proudly shone ; 

By each gun the lighted brand 
In a bold determined hand, 

And the prince of all the land 
Led them on ! ” 


In a small Scandinavian journal on board, named 
Snail Posten, it was advertised that the ‘ Horatio 5 and 
‘ Ophelia ’ ran between Helsingor, Helsingburg, and 
Kopenhamn. The above tragic names reminded me 
that I was soon to see Elsinore, without the ghost, 
or Hamlet the Dane ! 


57 


II. 

GOTTENBURG. 

Leaving the Custom-house {die Zolbude), the harbour 
for the Danish fleet, and the island of Arnak in the 
rear, on one side we had picturesque Danish coast- 
scenery, and on the other, Swedish. The fortified 
island of Three Crowns (Krdns)* is near Copenhagen. 
In less than two hours from leaving the harbour, we 
were off Elsinoref (Elsineur), which from the sea ap¬ 
peared to be a large town, with brick and wooden 
houses; a large red church, with the usual greenish 
copper roof, forming a prominent object—dark foliage 
and windmills completing the landscape. A little 
farther on we came to the castle (Kronburg), on the 
promontory, which is opposite the Swedish town of 
Helsingburg, some four or five miles across. The 
castle disappointed me ; still some might think it hand¬ 
some. It is a Gothic building, of white stone, with 
an ordinary steeple, and is surrounded by strong for¬ 
tifications. There is much that is curious in and about 
this castle (built in 1580), and the traveller, if he 
have time, should pay it a visit by land. The light¬ 
house, forming a portion of the building, may be well 
seen from the sea; while the whole view here reminds 

* 


Danish. 


f Styled in the north, Helsingor. 


58 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


one of the Frith of Forth, substituting the terms of 
Elsinore and Helsingburg for Edinburgh and Burnt¬ 
island. On the platform of the Great Tower, or on 
any other platform at Elsinore, doubtless, a traveller 
of strong imagination might have the ghost pass before 
him; and the sound of the waves rolling at the foot 
of the castle might give to “ airy nothing a local habi¬ 
tation and a name.” In Marcellus, say, repeating 
“ Speak to it, Horatio ! ”—the traveller now becoming 
the “ scholar,” while muttering to himself— 

“ What art thou, that usurp’st this time of night, 

Together with that fair and warlike form 
In which the majesty of buried Denmark 
Did sometimes march ? ” * 


The guns of the castle command the shore of the 
Sound in all directions; and observing this I thought 
of Sir Hyde Parker, with Nelson, forcing the passage 
on his way to storm Copenhagen. 

“ Let us think of them that sleep, 

Pull many a fathom deep, 

By thy wild and stormy steep, 

Elsinore! ” f 

Through the Sound we enter the Cattegat, or “ Cat’s 
Hole.” While passing Jutland, on the left, I was 
struck by the magnificence of a setting sun—the bril¬ 
liance and fiery red of which reminded me of a sunset 
at Rangoon. I was now in a northern clime, where 
the heat of the summer’s sun produces fruits and 
flowers in a short space of time; and the tediousness 


* ‘Hamlet,’ act i. sc. 1. 


t ‘ Battle of the Baltic.’ 



GOTTENBURG. 


59 


of the long winter nights “ is alleviated by the morning 
and evening twilights, which last in proportion as the 
sun is more or less removed from Sweden.” 

We arrived at Gottenburg, on the Cattegat, after a 
pleasant passage of less than twelve hours. This was 
the stronghold or town (burg) of the Goths; and the 
King of Sweden, on his accession to the throne, is pro¬ 
claimed “ King of Sweden and Norway, and of the 
Goths and Vandals.” Situated in West Gothland, the 
fortified and commercial town of Gottenburg is at the 
mouth of the river Gotha, with an excellent harbour; 
and this port is considered the best situation for foreign 
trade of any in the kingdom. The portion of Sweden 
named Gothland, in the early ages, is said to have 
given forth those multitudes of Goths who over¬ 
whelmed Europe, and rent it from the Roman empire, 
“ which had for five hundred years been its usurper, 
its legislator, and its tyrant.” We were now strolling 
about a rising town, built (or rather founded) early in 
the seventeenth century by the great Gustavus Adol¬ 
phus, who protected the Lutherans in Germany, hum¬ 
bled the house of Austria, and fell gloriously at the 
battle of Lutzen, while defeating Wallenstein. Stand¬ 
ing beside the noble statue of Gustavus, in Gotten¬ 
burg, the student of history may think of him, in his 
dying hour, on the plain of Lutzen. Gustavus re¬ 
ceived a ball in his back, and fell from his horse 
pierced with many wounds. While on the ground 
being asked who he was, he replied, boldly, “I am 
the King of Sweden, and seal with my blood the Pro¬ 
testant religion and the liberties of Germany ! ”—“ a 




60 


NOKTHEKN EUROPE. 


sentence,” observes Lord Dover, “ of almost prophetic 
truth.” Leading a vast army into Germany, to free 
the Protestants from Austrian tyranny, was one of the 
grandest enterprises on record. 

I shall have occasion hereafter to say more regard¬ 
ing this great Swedish monarch and warrior ; hut just 
having set foot in the country, I must relate an anec¬ 
dote of him, which will serve as a key to whatever is 
noble and generous in the heart of Sweden. Gustavus 
Adolphus was of a very hasty disposition. He gave 
Colonel Seaton a slap on the face for something that 
he had done to displease him. Seaton demanded his 
dismissal from the army, obtained it, and set off for the 
frontier of Denmark. The King, ashamed of the in¬ 
sult he had put upon a brave and an excellent officer, 
soon followed him on a fleet horse, and overtook him. 
“ Seaton,” said he, “ I see you are offended, and I am 
the cause of it. I am sorry for it, as I have a very 
great regard for you. I have followed you hither to 
give you satisfaction. I am now, as you well know, 
out of my own kingdom ; so that at present Gustavus 
and Seaton are equals. Here are two pistols and two 
swords, avenge yourself if you please.” Seaton im¬ 
mediately threw himself at the King’s feet, and told 
him what ample satisfaction he had already given him 
for what he had done. They returned to Stockholm 
together, where Gustavus told this adventure to all 
his court. 

In Gottenburg, without a knowledge of the Swedish 
language, I could not help thinking myself in the pre¬ 
dicament alluded to by Bacon in his well-known sage 


GOTTENBTJBG. 


01 


remark :—“ He that travelleth into a country, before he 
hath some entrance into the language, goeth to school, 
and not to travel/’ An esteemed and learned friend 
of mine once informed me that, when in the Highlands, 
if the people opened a fire of Gaelic at him, he imme¬ 
diately silenced their guns with a volley of Greek ! 
But I am not a Porson, and think that little would 
have been gained by firing at the Scandinavian tongues 
with the elements of Hindustani! At Copenhagen, 
antiquities and sculpture so much engrossed our minds, 
that there was not a moment to think of the language. 
The Swedish and Danish languages differ very little 
from each other. The Norwegian (norrasna tunga ), 
possessing more of the ancient Scandinavian idiom, is 
not so easy to acquire as the former two. The ancient 
Icelandic language was enriched, in the ninth century, 
by the Norwegian. Denmark, Sweden, and Norway 
was the order of departure from the old Scandinavian 
idiom. The Icelanders, who “possessed a rich and 
original literature,” eventually named their language 
islenz-ka tunga * 

From a merchant in Gottenburg, I learned enough 
of Swedish to know that a without dots is a, like the 
past tense in Hindustani, such as gaya, gone; and a 
with two dots, in horizontal juxta-position, is like a in 
hay. “ Come, let us go,” is the same in Swedish, as 
are also arm, head, hand, and foot. For butter, we 
have smor, and for bread, brod, expressive enough 
when we think of smearing a piece of bread with 

* Essay on ‘ Icelandic Poetry,’ &c., from the French of M. Berg- 
mann. In Ida Pfeiher’s ‘ Visit to Iceland. 


62 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


butter; dinner, middag , suggesting the Swedish cus¬ 
tom of an early dinner ; great-coat, ofverrock; sadel , 
the same as our English saddle ; handduk , towel; and 
vatterfall, waterfall; as regards our own tongue, 
all these words are of a very similar or suggestive 
character. 

In the Hotel Garni , near the quay, we had an 
opportunity of observing two shades of Swedish cha¬ 
racter,—one, in the merry Swedish girl who waited 
upon us, and who possessed a quickness and power 
in putting things to rights which I have seldom seen 
equalled; the other, in the quiet, unpretending, honest 
landlord who, without a smile on his face, endeavoured 
to make us comfortable. Although we could break¬ 
fast, we could not dine in the hotel; so the girl, 
with a laugh, recommended us to Bursen’s excellent 
Restauration , where, she assured us, we would get 
“plenty of roast-beef—plenty, plenty ! ” 

It was Sunday, and we visited a Danish church, 
built, I believe, chiefly for the poor Danes in Gotten- 
burg. A handsome brick building, with a lofty 
steeple, and admirably situated on an eminence; this 
temple adds greatly to the beauty of a quiet land¬ 
scape. We also visited one of the principal churches 
of the town, where we heard a sermon in Swedish, 
and some most plaintive and beautiful music. The 
national churches here are grand and commodious, 
with porticoes of handsome stone pillars, and dark 
steeples, or turrets, generally covered with copper. 
The Swedes struck me as being very devout, espe¬ 
cially the women. Rigid Lutherans, old and young 






GOTTENBUKG. 


63 


seemed to have really gone to church for the purpose 
of praying. Here and there you might see an earnest 
young widow, or a devout old woman “ with spec¬ 
tacles on nose,” such as Rembrandt or Wilkie would 
have loved to paint. 

In the environs of the town there are pleasant, 
shady walks, with seats, beside some capital roads, 
along which the Swedish gentlemen and their families 
dash along at a rapid pace, in carriages which appear 
to have seen service elsewhere. The “ turn-outs ” of 
Gottenburg were, as far as I could see, decidedly 
poor. * The horses also, on which Swedish officers 
seemed to delight in galloping about, struck me as 
being too slender for much work. The blue Swedish 
uniforms have a good effect; and, on the whole, we 
were much pleased with a walk in the skirts of the 
great trading emporium of the Cattegat. Gottenburg 
is really a handsome town (city), with a population 
of considerably upwards of 30,000; and the inhabit¬ 
ants, among whom are a number of English and 
Scotch merchants, may well be prQud of its rising 
importance. Finkel , in Sweden, a spirit apt to breed 
as much destruction among the lower classes as whis¬ 
key in Scotland, gin in England, and arrack in India, 
through the enterprise of an eminent Scotchman, was 
for a long time obliged to give way to cheap porter; 
and hence Gottenburg has become celebrated for its 
porter in the North. I believe, also, that it was a 
British merchant who first drove about the town in a 
decent conveyance, which, when the King of Sweden 
came to visit this his favourite port, was used by his 


64 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


Majesty during his tour of inspection. The regiment 
of artillery at Gottenburg did not escape my obser¬ 
vation. I take it as a general rule, that from the 
excellence of this arm you can generally judge of the 
excellence of an army. The officers seemed gentle¬ 
manly, soldierlike fellows, and the men well set up, 
looking, perhaps, rather fierce in their uniform of 
black helmet and brass, blue coat, and leather boots. 
They seemed worthy in every respect to belong to 
the land of Gustavus and Charles the Twelfth. We 
listened to the band of the regiment as they played 
some lively airs which, with that strange power be¬ 
longing to good music, led my thoughts back to India, 
quite away from Sweden. 

Rambling through the streets, I could not help 
being struck with some of the signs. One was— 

“ N. P. Backstrom, 

Sadel makare.” 

The other, adorned by the representation of a barrel 
on each side, was— 

“ C. Ekstron, 

Tunn Binclare.” 

Another sign, simply “A. C. Johnson,” set me 
a thinking if it were possible that this gentleman 
could in any way be connected with our immortal 
Samuel, author of ‘The Vanity of Human Wishes/ 
and ‘The English Dictionary.’ 

I could not help noticing the diversity of colour 
among the houses, which are chiefly built of brick, 
and stucco, and stone. Some of these are even 


GOTTENBTTEG. 


6i) 

bright red and yellow; but all are airy and com¬ 
modious, built with an evident eye to comfort. The 
bathing-houses by the sea-shore have also an air of 
comfort, and even luxury, about them. Nature seems 
to have fortified Gottenburg with huge rocks of gra¬ 
nite, here of the finest description. It is used to mend 
the roads, and for a variety of purposes. Wood, espe¬ 
cially deal, is a plentiful commodity at this port; and 
as I believe labour is cheap, with such important 
requisites, a city of great extent and beauty may 
some day here charm the traveller in the North. 
Iron, steel, and deals form the chief exports of Gotten¬ 
burg. Before departure, we paid a visit to the 
“ Public Gardens.” Here Swedish taste in laying out 
and decorating struck me as being very admirable. 
Lovers of music and beautiful flowers ; Scandinavian 
ladies in a variety of costume; peasants and others, 
with the usual plain black or coloured handkerchief 
for a bonnet, as in Denmark; Swedish and British 
merchants, with their wives and children,—all assem¬ 
ble here to do homage to that great essential in life, 
recreation. Turning from the fair hair and blue eyes 
in the gardens, we were now ready to start for 
Stockholm. The harbour of Gottenburg is very 
extensive, and for two or three miles you have some¬ 
times nothing but ships. Denmark and the Baltic 
supply grain for our British markets, and from this 
part of Sweden come many articles of commerce use¬ 
ful to the world. It is commerce, and commerce 
alone, which must eventually bring about the full 
glory of the North ! 

F 


66 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


On the spacious quay,* while gazing on the ships 
from all nations, I could not help admiring “ the 
build ”f of the Swedish mail steamers. Swedish iron 
being so good and so plentiful, must greatly assist the 
construction of those vessels which walk the water 
“ like giants rejoicing in their course.” 

Our steamer, which was to take us through the 
magnificent Gotha Canal to Stockholm, was a very 
comfortable one in some respects, and quite the 
reverse in others. Of course, for such a passage, it 
could not be a large vessel; it must also draw little 
water. And so, determined to be content, with 
many splendid views of Nature’s glorious work in 
anticipation, we cheerfully steamed away from the 
handsome and busy city of Gottenburg. 

* The Custom-house and a fine row of buildings overlook the 
quay. 

f The Swedes took their skill in ship-building from the Danes, 
who were masters in the craft. Alfred the Great first built ships 
after the Danish model, of a superior construction for that age. 




67 


III. 

THE GOTHA CANAL.—FALLS OF TKOLHATTAN. 

In our little steamer, appropriately named 4 Stock¬ 
holm,’ we had a goodly array of passengers ; among 
others, a Sardinian general and his son, hound on a 
mission to “ cement friendship,” by the presentation 
of a Royal order from Victor Emmanuel to the King 
of Sweden. We had also a geologist, and a Swedish 
officer of Engineers; the former silent and indus¬ 
trious, the latter very agreeable and communica¬ 
tive. 

We soon arrived in the beautiful little river Gotha, 
and were steaming through a picturesque valley, hills 
of considerable size on our right, and the shore dotted 
with small villages of a comfortable appearance. The 
hills reminded us of Kinnoull, near Perth, on the Tay. 
I could not help noticing the beautiful green colour 
of the river. We passed a large brick and tile work, 
beside superb granite hills, extending nearly to the 
water’s edge. To the rear of these there was a 
curious chain of red wooden paling, marking the 
route by which clay was brought to the brick works. 
The green shrubbery, of much luxuriance, here comes 
nearly down to the water’s edge—the whole forming a 
very pretty picture for the artist. I now learned that, 

f 2 


68 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


of tlie railway to Stockholm, only 18 Swedish (about 
115 English) miles were finished. 

I should have mentioned, among the passengers, 
a Swedish professor of medicine, who had been doing 
business in London to a considerable amount, and 
was now bound on a visit to his friends in Sweden. 
He advocated curing the diseases which flesh is heir 
to by the most simple means ; in the first instance, 
pressing home the necessity of strict temperance. He 
was a decided enemy to the excellent porter and milk 
punch [pifinkel) consumed on board the steamer ; but 
was one of the best-natured men withal I ever met. 
A man of much knowledge and observation, he was 
of great use to us on the journey ; and he had the 
wonderful knack of entertaining strangers, while 
showing the greatest kindness to his wife and child, 
and arguing the point on nearly every subject under 
the sun, without once getting out of temper. Here 
was at once a key to the Swede’s success in life ! 

The Sardinian general, I found, had been twenty 
years in India, and had served with the well-known 
Colonel Skinner’s Horse. Leaving India in 1844, he 
had won his way gradually into the favour of one of 
the most rising kingsof Europe, and was his general 
and aide-de-camp at the battles of Solferino and 
Magenta. He had served in the first Burmese war 
in ’25, and I had served in the second Burmese war in 
’52 ; so, at least, we had the golden land of Burmah 
in common to talk about. He had also served under 
Lord Combermere, at Bhurtpore, in ’26. This led me 
to think how well several foreign adventurers of talent 


THE GOTHA CANAL. 


69 


managed in days gone by to play tbeir cards in India, 
while our own countrymen, except in the civil or 
military services, could seldom or never get a footing. 
The well-known Ventura and Avitabile were among 
those who rose to high military rank when the power 
of Native princes was not to be despised in Hin¬ 
dustan. But we have always been a strange nation 
as regards foreign countries. In India we allowed 
foreign generals to discipline troops who eventually 
fought against us, allowing such officers to land be¬ 
cause we knew the countries whence they came had 
no colonial power. Some of these generalissimos were 
with us, and some were against us ; but it mattered 
little to us either way ! 

I was pleased to meet with the now distinguished 
general who had once, in a humbler rank, done good 
service for the old Company ; and I got some useful 
military information from him about Austrians and 
French fighting “fearlessly and well,” as we steamed 
along the river Gotha. We passed the fine old ruined 
fortress of Bohus on our left. Forests, mountainous 
ridges, bleak rocks, and the hrick-red cottages of the 
peasants, with an occasional solitary rock near the 
water, gave a singular Salvator Rosa-like wildness 
to the scenery. From some distance, perched on a 
great height, a solitary horse was to be seen, like a 
sentinel of the mountain observing all that passed 
around and below. The horse seemed immovable, 
like the solitary Cossack sentinel seen on a mountain 
top, in advance of a village held by Russians during 
the war. “ This is above all strangeness ! ” thought 


70 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


I, as we parted from the thing on the “ crown o the 
cliff/’ or rather on the crest of the steep hill; which 
watchful horse seemed to me the last object of in¬ 
terest, till beside the first lock of the famed Gotha 
canal. 

From the serene sky and pure air of Sweden, from 
high northern latitudes, where the climate during 
eight or nine months of the year is intensely severe, 
and Nature seems enrobed in everlasting snow, my 
thoughts turn to the land of Egypt. 

It was more than twelve years since I had arrived 
at Atfeh, the point of junction with the Nile. Our 
party were at the port there during a beautiful morn¬ 
ing in June. The glowing traveller, Warburton, some 
years before, was not so fortunate. “ A regular African 
storm,” he writes, “dark and savage, was howling 
among the mud-built houses when we disembarked 
there ankle-deep in slime.He was about to enter 
the sacred river, and, in his own way, talk to the 
Naiads of the Nile ; we had just left it in a matter-of- 
fact way, bound for old England. We were then 
about to embark on that great work of Mehemet 
Ali’s—the Mahmoudie canal, which connects Alex¬ 
andria with the Nile. I recollect noticing this as one 
of the grandest examples in the world of a barbarian 
struggling into civilisation. And thus I wrote :—It 
is said that 150,000 workmen were employed in the 
excavation, of whom more than 20,000 perished either 
by starvation or plague. On the banks of the canal 
are to be seen handsome villas, with beautifully laid- 

* ‘ Crescent and the Cross,’ p. 27. 



THE GOTHA CANAL. 


71 


out gardens attached to them. As a boat passed us 
occasionally, the sweet strains of the dulcimer pro¬ 
ceeded from some musical Egyptian therein; and we 
sometimes had the good fortune to observe faces, pass¬ 
ing fair, in the shrubberies pertaining to the summer 
seats, as we glided along.* 

From the Gotha river, along the Swedish canal, 
soon reminded me that I was not in Egypt, but in a 
land of comparative liberty—a land of great kings and 
mighty deeds ! 

The Gotha, unlike the Mahmoudie, was neither 
ninety feet in breadth, nor eighteen in depth, through 
a level country. This canal, from Stockholm to Got- 
tenburg, was commenced in 1751. Two other great 
canals of Northern Europe are that between the Cas¬ 
pian Sea and the Baltic, commenced 1709, and the 
canal between the Baltic and North Sea, at Kiel, 
opened 1785. I cannot but believe that such arti¬ 
ficial cuts, or passages for water—for which, perhaps, 
the Gotha, as a wonderful work of art, has no equal 
—are highly beneficial to the traffic of a country like 
Sweden. Uniting many lakes, and furnishing an out¬ 
let to the Baltic and North Seas for the various pro¬ 
duce of the country, the delay of passing the Sound is 
avoided by means of the Gotha canal, that silent path¬ 
way on which we were now travelling! 

The transportation of cotton in India by means of 
canals, leaving railways chiefly for the quick transport 
of troops, passengers, and military stores, should, I 
think, occupy a very large share of public attention. 

• ‘ Orissa,’ &c., p. 264. 


72 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


Cotton is now the King we have to set firmly on his 
throne ; and he has been delivered over to us by Ame¬ 
rica, the magnificent country for which all Europe once 
hoped such great things, but which is now plunged 
into a terrible state of confusion, brought about by bad 
politicians, national restlessness, intolerable arrogance, 
and an utter ignorance of military affairs ! We had 
seventy-four locks to pass. The first is at Lilia Edet, 
or rather at Akersberg, as I heard the position of the 
slussar termed,—a pretty place on the banks of the 
river and canal. The rich foliage of the landscape 
here was very pleasing. The first batch of locks con¬ 
sists of five, which take some time to pass ; so we had 
ample opportunity of viewing the beauties of the 
scenery. Having admired the “ broad and voluminous 
fall of the Gotha ”—the water roaring, and raging, 
and foaming, and rushing along, like volumes of liquid, 
embossed silver, hostile and ready to do battle with 
other falls beyond—then out of the canal and into the 
river again, with large rugged rocks frowning down 
upon us on our right; passing by green parks and 
fertile valleys; then by fir-trees and rocks to the 
water’s edge,—at length, in the afternoon, we arrived 
at the far-famed locks near Trolhattan. We had 
passed the ‘ Hertha,’ Scandinavian steamer, on her 
way from Stockholm, with the usual motley crowd on 
board. We now all disembarked, and made off for 
the celebrated Falls. Our steamer was to meet us 
some three or four miles above, after all our curiosity 
and admiration had been expended—a species of am¬ 
munition which should never leave the pouch of a 



FALLS OF TKOLIIATTAN. 


73 


traveller, especially if he travel for pleasure. Eleven 
locks to pass, these said to rise upwards of a hun¬ 
dred in a space of nearly four thousand feet, there 
was ample time to behold and admire. These locks 
are admirably described by Ida Pfeiffer,^ the great lady 
traveller of the world :—“ They are broad, deep, 
blasted out of the rock, and walled round with fine 
freestone. They resemble the single steps of a giant’s 
staircase; and by this name they might fitly rank as 
one of the wonders of the world. Lock succeeds 
lock, mighty gates close them, and the large vessel 
rises miraculously to the giddy heights in a wildly 
romantic country.” It was like a summer’s afternoon 
in our own Britain. The geologist, the Swedish engi¬ 
neer, the professor of medicine, the ever-zealous and 
indefatigable secretary, the Indian officer, the ladies, 
including the wife and young child of the good-tem¬ 
pered professor, and last, though far from least, the 
Sardinian general and his son—all made way rapidly 
through the beautiful Swedish forest scenery. 

If they had been walking for a wager, to catch the 
Falls ere they slipped away, greater speed could hardly 
have been. The sound of water, to some minds, pro¬ 
duces thoughts of no ordinary kind, leading men occa¬ 
sionally to reflect on something beyond this world. 
Even the poet, on his death-bed, asks to be buried 
by the green banks of some rippling river ; and our 
greatest novelist, as he was dying, had his window 
opened, that he might hear the gentle ripple of the 
Tweed. The Alleluiahs above are compared to the 
* ‘ A Visit to Iceland and the Scandinavian North.’ 



74 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


“voice of many waters;’’ and if a man were not so¬ 
lemnly impressed when he heard at some distance the 
tremendous rush of such mighty cataracts as those of 
America “ thundering in their solitudes,” or even, 
away from Niagara, those on a smaller # scale, of the 
sparkling Rhine, the “ dark-flowing ” Danube, or the 
classic Nile, that man, we need hardly mention it, is 
not to be envied. The sight of water, too, under par¬ 
ticular circumstances, affords some of the greatest 
pleasures of which humanity is capable. Be it pure 
or muddy, how welcome its use continually is to the 
wearied soldier or traveller ! 

The .camel, or eastern “ship of the desert,” through 
some unaccountable taste of species, we read, likes it 
muddy, while man likes it pure. But soldiers, at least, 
cannot always get what they like. I recollect, while 
in India during the Sikh invasion in 1845-46, reading 
of the British troops just before the battle of Mudkt , 
slaking a thirst which seemed unquenchable, after a 
long march of twenty-one miles, with chakos full of 
“muddy Mudld water.” After this “sweet draught,” 
the gallant Broadfoot dashed forward with the news of 
the enemy’s advance ; and now the Governor-Gene¬ 
ral,* with the old blood of Albuera back in his veins, 
“waved his dashing staff over to the brave chief! f 
of that brave army,” and both led them on to victory ! 
Doubtless, that timely draught strengthened the power 
of our foot-sore troops in the charge. And now, back 
to the North; I can easily imagine how Charles the 

* Sir Henry, afterwards Lord Har dingo. 

t Sir Hugh, now Lord Gough. See also ‘ Calcutta Review,’ No. XI. 



FALLS OF TEOLHATTAN. 


75 


Twelfth of Sweden, “ the most extraordinary man, 
perhaps, that ever appeared in the world,” appre¬ 
ciated the sight of plenty of water. In fact, there is 
sufficient to satisfy whole armies of ‘ 4 teetotallers ” in 
the North ! From a rocky height we first surveyed 
the different locks, and then passed on to Trolhattan, 
on the shore of the river. On our way, we frequently 
stopped and beheld the falls beyond and below—the 
whole of the scenery grand and picturesque—till at 
length we arrived at the saw-mills, near the village. 
Here we found a bridge of a rather fragile nature, right 
across the chief cataract, to pass over which and view 
the raging waters in their abyss a small sum of money 
was demanded. Here we now saw that “ the falls of 
the river are less distinguished for their height than 
for their diversity and their volumes of water.” But 
still the idea of toppling down headlong into such a 
gulf was something terrible, and made the blood run 
cold. Our steamer was*now suddenly rising and toil¬ 
ing towards us, forcing its way, as it were, through the 
vast rocks, appearing and disappearing at pleasure. 
No opening of the gates was visible in the canal, 
which was some distance from where we now gazed 
on the wonderful Falls of the river. From the frail 
stand here I surveyed with unceasing amazement the 
battle of the waters, going on below. The hostile 
volumes, in their furious dash, seemed to be con¬ 
tinually charging an opposite party, which, whirling 
about, and, although horse and rider fallen, seemed 
to recover position and fight fiercer than ever. Then 
they seemed to roll away together in the confusion 




76 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


of strife! Those who have seen the cascades at 
Tivoli, the Roman paradise, where Horace revelled 
like a true poet, and those at Terni, the spot which 
gave birth to Tacitus, who may have taken some of 
his declamatory eloquence from the music of the falls, 
I am sure, will not be disappointed with the Falls of 
Trolhattan. Nay, more. Should the traveller have 
w r atched the mighty waters of Niagara in their tre¬ 
mendous fall, or the cataracts and cascades in various 
parts of India, the Swedish Falls* I have now briefly 
touched on will, if he have an eye for the sublime 
combined with the picturesque, elicit his ardent admi¬ 
ration. To view the scenery on the way to the Falls, 
alone, is worth the trouble of a visit. The lover of 
the curious will not fail to observe the renowned 
“ Cave of the Kings,” hewn out of the solid rock. 
Here the names of many sovereigns are written on 
the hard stone; and “ Gustavus,” “Carl,” “Jose¬ 
phine,” “ Oscar,” and manyothers, bring to memory 
strange historical associations. The variety of plants 
in the wood or forest, by the river, will greatly inte¬ 
rest the botanist. Here there are ferns in endless 
variety ! blue bells, heather, a variety of moss, butter¬ 
cups and dasies in beautiful plots, as in England ; 
while occasionally you are reminded, by the firs, of 
some of the finest aspects of Scottish scenery. Seeing 
some wood, ready cut, lying beside the saw-mills, on 

* I have read, but am not sure as to its correctness, that, at Trol¬ 
hattan, there are four cascades that “ fall 110 feet in two miles.” The 
bridge above-mentioned leads from the shore to a small rocky island, 
from which there is a magnificent view of the river, divided into two 
falls by the island. 


FALLS OF TROLHATTAN. 77 

inquiry as to its destination, I learned that paper of 
excellent quality was to be made out of it! The inn at 
Trolhattan is a little above this spot where we caught 
the steamer, and proceeded leisurely on our journey 
to Stockholm. 


78 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


IV. 

I • 

STOCKHOLM—DEOTTNINGHOLM—UPSALA. 

Nothing will surprise the traveller by the Gotha 
Canal to the capital of Sweden more than the vastness 
of the cuttings through solid rock, which frequently 
meet his eye. The difficulties to overcome must have 
been enormous before the present excellence of this 
route could have been obtained. There must have 
been Swedish monarchs at work here, with as strong 
wills as that of the “ Eastern Canute,” Mehemet Ali, 
utterly repudiating the word impossible. In the foun¬ 
dation and eventual extension of the Gotha Canal, 
Counts Pollen and Platten, I believe, are the two distin¬ 
guished names. The mandate of the above Pasha in 
Egypt was, indeed, no idle word; and if it acted “ like 
an incantation to the old Egyptian spirit of great 
works ” in the land of the Nile, it seems to have had 
a similar effect in Canute’s own land of the North. 
The difference of level between the canal at Trol- 
hattan and where it joins the river below the Falls, 
is 112 feet. Beyond Trolhattan the river seems to 
expand into a lake, and numerous islands begin to 
denote a change of scenery. Late in the evening we 
were lying at the village of Wennersburg, on the 


JOURNEY TO STOCKHOLM. 


79 


magnificent Wennersee, or Wennern Lake, said to 
be “the largest in Europe next to that of Ladoga, 
in Russia.” Leaving Wennersburg in the middle of 
the night, we passed Bromo Island early in the morn¬ 
ing. Rising at our Indian hour, before five,—the 
Swedish damsels of the ‘ Stockholm ’ preparing coffee 
with all possible speed,—I could find nothing particu¬ 
lar to remark about this island. There is the light¬ 
house, and the wooden houses with red tiles, and the 
windmills retiring in the dark forest scenery, and the 
want of man, woman, or beast in the landscape—all 
so peculiar to Sweden. We kept passing numerous 
little gems of islands, on which water-spirits might 
love to revel by moonlight. In a few hours we 
reached a beautiful spot, out of the lake. On either 
side here we had elm, oak, drooping birch, and other 
graceful trees looking their best, as if to welcome us; 
while red houses among the trees, and picturesque 
fruit-women coming to sell us their luscious stores, 
denoted civilisation somewhere. 

I used to amuse myself with observing the Swedish 
women as they opened and closed the gates of the 
locks. The fair sex are used to hard work in this 
country of the North, and the cheerful, good-natured 
manner in which they performed their toilsome duty 
(about a very different lock* from that which Pope 
wrote about!) elicited general admiration. 

* “ Swift to the lock a thousand sprites repair, 

A thousand wings, by turns, blow back the hair! ” 

Rape of the Lock. 


80 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


In the narrow parts of the canal there are little 
more than twenty-five feet of width. In the after¬ 
noon we arrived at Tarboda, the terminus of the 
Gothaborg railway. We immediately landed, and 
minutely surveyed the handsome and spacious station. 

The train came in soon after our arrival, with many 
passengers for the e Stockholm.’ There were stu¬ 
dents and players, actors and actresses, travelling 
merchants and ladies, and children enough to do 
justice to a far larger vessel. The students were pro¬ 
ceeding to commence the term of their studies at 
Sweden’s famed University of Upsala. With their 
white-covered caps, resembling the old Indian forage¬ 
cap with cover—some with spectacles, some without 
—and their good-humoured manly faces, they seemed 
quite ready for another studious campaign in a field 
where the triumphs are lasting and splendid. Unlike 
some German students, there was little of a metaphy¬ 
sical abstracted appearance among them. You could 
not pick one out who would be likely to shoot at a 
king for the sake of alarming him and causing a com¬ 
motion in the country—a strange way, certainly, of 
producing “ unity! ” They seemed, like our own, 
not devoid of the “ passionate dream and ambition of 
youth,” but not likely to interfere with what did not 
concern them, and always ready to defend their own 
liberties and their native land when called on ! 

By-and-by I shall have a few notes to make about 
Upsala. We made excellent way along the narrow 
canal, rich shrubbery giving beauty to each side. 


JOUBNEY TO STOCKHOLM. 


81 


Just as the sun was sinking, and that celestial red 
which enchants the people of this region, at this 
season, almost daily, had given forth its full blaze of 
glory, the deck of the ‘ Stockholm 5 presented a gay 
appearance. Some had been playing draughts, others 
drinking coffee; novel reading and conversation had 
been the occupation of a few; and I had observed an 
actor of colossal appearance—a perfect “ tun of man,” 
—studying ‘Romeo and Juliet.’ Now all stood up 
to take exercise, preparatory to settling down for the 
night. 

I had an opportunity of observing that the last 
student’s edition of Shakspeare was in French ;—and 
here, then, was one of the gems of the “Swan of 
Avon ” on the Gotha canal! This led me to think 
of the universality of that gifted genius who for 
nearly three hundred years has enchanted the world. 
Whether the godlike and undying intellect of Shak¬ 
speare would find a fit representative in the possessor 
of the volume in question, at Stockholm or elsewhere, 
was another affair, with which I had no concern. 
But one thing was evident—here was Shakspeare in 
Sweden! Here was the book which one of our 
Governors-General of India, the good Lord Teign- 
mouth, said ranked (in some important essentials) next 
to the Bible, # in the land of the Goths and Vandals ! 
Byron and Scott, we read, prepared the way for the 

* “ Next to the Bible, no author has so well anatomized the human 
heart and exhibited the workings of human passions. Imprint select 
passages on your memory! 5 —Lovd Teignniouth to his kj on. 

G 



82 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


introduction of Shakspeare on the Continent. And 
here is a good anecdote of that mighty perverted 
genius, Voltaire:—“A century ago he preached to 
his countrymen the excellence of the English bard; 
but he soon got terrified, lest he was raising a rival 
to his own fame, and he preached Shakspeare down 
again ! ” With so much Scandinavian blood in British 
veins, we may look for some of our own national 
glory in the North, when Shakspeare there becomes 
understood and appreciated. 

Passing Ryholm Castle, and Carlsborg—one of the 
largest forts and arsenals in Sweden, well locked in *— 
we were now fairly in the Wettern Lake, or Welter see, 
as it is also styled. This magnificent sheet of water 
is famous for liquid as pure as that of the Nile, and 
for storms which overtake the steamers with a sudden¬ 
ness hardly less than in the Bay of Bengal. 

The waves of this beautiful lake are said to play 
“deceitful tricks,” as told in th € Sagas and fables of 
the Scandinavian North. The hills, and the dark 
scenery which surround them, add a solemnity and 
grandeur to the picture quite beyond my powers to de¬ 
scribe. The vexed waters began to exhibit their fury 
about eight o’clock in the evening, and we had a 
pretty rough passage across the lake. Even in Sweden, 
where better things might have been expected, our 
little steamer was allowed to carry a cumbersome deck 
cargo, which made her roll considerably; and, in case 

In case of Stockholm being’ attacked, tlie Government could re¬ 
tire on Carlsborg. 




JOURNEY TO STOCKHOLM. 


83 


of any accident, as is too well known in our own 
country, would have produced “ confusion worse con¬ 
founded.” I believe we have “ an Act” in force, com¬ 
pelling ship proprietors to have so many feet of ships' 
sides above water, after loading (a rule which, I fear, 
is too often neglected). I should like to see its exten¬ 
sion, strictly prohibiting carrying any cargo on deck. 
Were these matters more attended to, and the insatiable 
love of gain made second to the comfort and safety of 
the public, there would be fewer shipwrecks and acci¬ 
dents in our mercantile service ! The same strictures, 
in a way, might be applied to British railways, which, 
with their “cheap trips” and “excursion trains,” too 
frequently practise the quick method of decreasing the 
population ! From such practical notes, I am led to 
those of an imaginative character, regarding the squalls 
in the Wettern. Some years ago, while writing about 
Siva or Kal, the destroying power of the Hindus, I 
was led to remark, by way of analogy, that, according 
to the Scandinavian mythology, propitiatory worship 
is offered to the being which is feared. Odin assumes 
the name of the Nikhar , when he acts as the destroying 
power. In this character he inhabits the lakes and 
rivers of Scandinavia, where, “ under the ancient ap¬ 
pellation of the Nikker (the old Nick of England, and 
the Kelpie of Scotland), he raises sudden storms and 
tempests, and leads mankind to destruction !” 

In Scandinavia, too, the god is whimsical; for in 
the woods, on the shore of a lake, he vexes the fisher- 
by placing their boats on the summits of the 

g 2 


men, 


84 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


loftiest trees ! I have omitted to mention that we had 
been passing through lakes upwards of 300 feet above 
the level of the North Sea. 

After the passage of the Wettern, we came to a 
short canal, leading into a small lake. At this part of 
the journey, the curious traveller may walk in the 
shady wood until the old business of the locks is trans¬ 
acted, and halt before the honoured grave of Admiral 
Von Platten, who brought about the completion of the 
Gotha canal. Here is a monument to the Count, 
nearly opposite which is the celebrated town of Motala, 
where the 4 Stockholm ’ rested awhile to land passen¬ 
gers. At the works here, small iron steamers, of a 
very superior quality, are made, and also engines for 
large ones. A soldier should never grumble; but I 
must say we passed a most uncomfortable night on 

board the steamer. The small dining saloon was 

* 

crowded with sleepers,—on the floor, hung up to the 
roof, and everywhere ! The previous night I had a 
little air ; but now the increase of passengers had de¬ 
prived me of that. Jammed into a corner, next the 
pantry, a foreigner swinging on every side, the entry of 
air was impossible ; and, although an old campaigner, 
I began to think that such a thing as misery could be 
found in Europe as well as in Asia ! 

By morning we had passed many locks ; from lake 
into lake ;* making a descent of nearly 120 feet; and 

* Upon the banks of the Roxen, or Roxersee, is an old mansion, 
where lived a brancli of the Scotch family of Douglas, of the cele¬ 
brated Counts Douglas, who emigrated to Sweden in Cromwell’s time. 



JOURNEY TO STOCKHOLM. 


85 


liad entered the canal, leading into a bay of the Baltic. 
I believe it to be a curious geological fact that the land 
of Sweden, in many parts, is rising at the rate of three 
feet in one hundred years. Above, on, and below the 
level of seas, furnish interesting matter for study to 
the student of Physical Geography. Some five or six 
years ago I resided at a town in the East, nearly eight 
thousand feet above ; had I visited the dull and dirty 
town of Tiberias, in Syria, I should have been six 
hundred feet below ; and here in Sweden I had now 
descended to nearly two hundred feet above the level 
of the sea. Mr. R. Chambers apprehends that the Gulf 
of Bothnia may he upon a higher level than the Ocean. 
As the Gotha canal is a source of life and internal 
defence to Sweden, so I am led to think that the canal 
at present being cut, under French direction, in Egypt 
should by any chance the “ impracticable” scheme 
succeed, will he just the reverse to our power in Asia. 
There is one thing in the engineer’s favour—little or 
no difficulty about level to be got over. The contem¬ 
plated canal across the Isthmus of Suez commences, I 
believe, in the eastern part of Suez harbour, and runs 
nearly due north across the Isthmus, eventually turning 
off some eighteen miles to the westward, “ where the 
water is reported as much deeper nearer shore.” The 
length of this canal is estimated at upwards of ninety 
miles. The “ natural obstacles to be overcome,” and 
the immense engineering works to be undertaken, in 
cutting such a canal, made Stephenson, the far-famed 
engineer, and others, deny the practicability of the 




86 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


scheme. Egypt independent, and an European enemy 
to our power seizing upon Egypt as the water-gate to 
India, where would all our grand dreams of Oriental 
empire be ? Verily, after seeing the “ impossibilities” 
overcome in the business of canal-cutting in Sweden, 
we must look well after the progress and effects of this 
new “ insane project;” so that, when Islam has withered 
away, and we shall be straining more than ever far over 
to hold our loved India, we may “ plant a firm foot on 
the banks of the Nile and sit in the seats of the Faith¬ 
ful !” # I despair of ever getting to Stockholm ; hut 
my notes keep pace with the steamer ! I must now 
dash along. 

The canal took us through a beautiful valley ; and, 
in the forenoon, we were off the town of Soderkoping 
—silent, rocky, and romantic. This is, I believe, 
literally south burgh — soder being simply south or 
southern, as soder, land—Sutherland ! Here, military 
officers, and sprightly cadets, with their neat brass 
epaulettes glittering in the sun, came down to welcome 
friends in the steamer ; and the whole thing began to 
look very like Gravesend or Woolwich ! In the neat 
town I observed a sign holding forth entertainment for 
man in the shape of ohl (ale) and Gottenburg porter. 
A mineral chalybeate well—St. Raghnild’s—also distin¬ 
guishes this town, which has a population of about 
3000. 

And now we approach the Baltic. Through a 
shoal of islands and islets, through rocks and cliffs, 

* ‘ Eotlien,’ chap. 20. 







JOUKNEY TO STOCKHOLM. 


87 


through obstacles which seem to defy the power of 
navigation, the steamer forces its way. The pictu¬ 
resque castle .of Hushy, the fine old chateau of Stiga- 
borg (one of the ancient fortresses of Sweden), with 
varieties of woodland scenery in their rear, afford sub¬ 
jects for the painter’s art, which a Claude or a Poussin 
would have loved to immortalize. Now, by the shores 
of the Baltic, the beautiful tideless sea, with islands 
right and left of us, by rocks of granite set off by 
innumerable fir trees, we steam fearlessly along. 
Looking towards the setting sun, just beginning to 
mellow the scenery of the bay, so richly studded 
with beautiful islands, I am led to think of the hour 
mentioned as so dear by the sweet lyric poet of 
Ireland :— 

“ And, as I watch the line of light that plays 

Along the smooth wave tow’rd the burning west, 

I long to tread that golden path of rays, 

And think ’twould lead to some bright isle of rest! ” 

At length the hills and islands began to disappear; 
and we were fairly in the open sea. At Arake we 
took a pilot on board. Again in the Baltic, I was led 
to think of naval fights and victories—when each 
gun— 

“ From its adamantine lips 
Spread a death-shade round the ships, 

Like the hurricane eclipse 
Of the sun!” 


Then I thought how the path of glory on the deep led 
to victory, and the death of Nelson. But not with 



88 


NOETHEEN EUEOPE. 


Nelson only; for, of the old Admirals of the North, 
it is sung,— 

“ Path of the Dane to fame and might! 

Dark-rolling wave! ” 

Now, no longer Tordenskiol # (Thundershield) thun¬ 
dered from Denmark; and all was peace! Now, 
haying travelled nearly 300 miles, f fifty or sixty by 
canal, we enter the beautiful Malar lake, or M’alarsee 
(by a short canal), and soon behold— 

Stockholm. 

“ Thou art in Stockholm! $ A thousand thoughts 
Eush on my mind, a thousand images ; 

And I spring up as girt to run a race! ” 

In a space of less than seventy miles, passing by 
some twelve or fourteen hundred islands, to reach the 
capital of a kingdom, is no small incident in the 
experience of a traveller. It can only take place in 
Sweden. We took a shorter course, and steamed, by 
the “ pale moonlight,” through the magnificent Malar 
lake—trees and rocks of island and shore, as usual, 
down to the water’s edge—till, in front of the tall 
spires, Stockholm looked as if on the sea; and I en¬ 
tertained the momentary delusion that we went to the 
“ Venice of the North,” 

“ As to a floating city—steering in.” 

* Peter Wesscll, a famous Danish admiral, who received the above 
title. 

f In Murray’s ‘ Handbook,’ the entire distance is 370 English miles. 

X Borne? Eogers’s ‘Italy.’ 





STOCKHOLM. 


89 


Approaching it by moonlight gave a romantic ending 
to our journey; and this, in a great measure, pre¬ 
vented us from judging whether the view disappointed 
the expectation or not. The picture from the Malar, 
by the light of day, was yet to be seen. 

Stockholm is built on several small islands and 
peninsulas, at the junction of the Malar lake with the 
Baltic. It has a safe and capacious harbour. The 
name given to the city is said to refer to its position, 
and “ the mode in which it must have been built.” 
Holm signifies an island, formed by a river, and stock 
is simply the English word stake. In such sites, as at 
Amsterdam, in Holland, and the capital of Sweden, 
the houses are built on piles, or timbers driven deep 
into the earth. 

The foundation of Stockholm dates as far back as 
six hundred years; and, in the middle ages, the 
strength of its fortifications, and the numerous sieges 
it withstood, made Sweden famous in story. It has 
for ages been the residence of some of the greatest 
kings in the history of Europe ; and if all the deeds 
of dreadful note done in Stockholm, since its founda¬ 
tion, were collected together, a terrible “ Calendar” 
would be presented. Every phase of human bravery 
has appeared here ; the grandest struggles for religious 
liberty have taken place here; and here the most 
subtle schemes of the monarch and the politician have 
been planned ! 

The early history of Sweden is confused and un¬ 
profitable. We arrive at the kings about the year 



90 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


1019. But even Eric the Tenth, “the Saint,” and 
Eric the Twelfth, “ the Stutterer,” and Waldemar, in 
whose reign the foundation of Stockholm was laid, 
have little to interest us about them. Still, there is 
always a certain dignity attached to the idea of a long 
line of kings ! 

Sweden preserved its liberty till towards the end 
of the fourteenth century. Even all previous revolu¬ 
tions had turned out in favour of freedom. To the 
chief magistrate was given the name of King ; but he 
could do nothing without the Senate. The represen¬ 
tatives of the nation were, at first, gentlemen, bishops, 
and deputies of the towns ; and, in process of time, 
the peasantry, a class of people, says the historian, 
“ unjustly slighted in other nations, and enslaved in 
almost all the countries of .the North.” # I have 
before alluded to the Goths, from among whom we 
have the origin of nobility in Europe. After they 
had seized a large tract of the country, they rewarded 
their captains with titles of honour to distinguish 
them from the common people. Thus we have a 
chain of connection between nobility and Sweden, 
which it is interesting to note. 

The Swedes of the Middle Ages appear to have 
been particularly fond of “ the boast of heraldry, the 
pomp of power.” The famous order of the Seraphim, 
of which the Kings of Sweden are perpetual Grand¬ 
masters, was instituted by Magnus the Second, in 
1334, after the siege of Upsala, then the metropolitan 

* History of ‘Charles the Twelfth.’ Written about the year 1750. 



STOCKHOLM. 


91 


city of the kingdom. It flourished until the Reforma¬ 
tion under Gustavus Vasa, when it became dormant ; 
but it was revived about 1748, by Frederick the 
First, “ who reformed the statutes which still remain.” 

After Margaret Waldemar’s conquest of Sweden, 
the country was long distracted by civil wars. The 
Semiramis of the North was succeeded by tyrants 
of the worst description. Two of those monsters, 
Christiern the Second, of Denmark, and the Arch¬ 
bishop of Upsala, caused the consuls and magistrates 
of Stockholm, together with ninety-four senators, to 
be seized in one day and massacred by the common 
executioners, for, it was said, defending the rights of 
the State against the Archbishop. After this, Stock¬ 
holm was given up to be pillaged, and man, woman, 
and child, put to the sword ! 

And now we come to the recoverer of the inde¬ 
pendence of Sweden, the famous Gustavus Vasa, 
whose father had been cruelly murdered, with other 
sons of freedom. About ninety or a hundred miles 
north of Stockholm, there is a Swedish province 
named Dalecarlia. The people are a hardy and hold 
race, and differ materially from the rest of the Swedes. 
The Dalecarlians—of whom there are about 140,000 
—come in considerable numbers from their native 
valleys, to Stockholm, where they earn a livelihood as 
porters, labourers, and boat-women. They are like¬ 
wise excellent mechanics, and are particularly famous 
for the smelting of copper ore. Probably the first 
objects of attraction the traveller will meet with on 


92 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


his arrival in the capital, will be a bevy of picturesque 
able-bodied women trudging merrily along. These 
Dalecarlian females are distinguished by their dress of 
black petticoats, red boddices, white chemises, narrow 
aprons of two colours, red stockings, and shoes with 
inch-thick wooden soles. They twist a handkerchief 
round, or put a small black cap on the back part of 
the head. The men wear long whitish-grey coarse 
coats, with horn or leathern buttons, in shape some¬ 
thing like jockey-coats, and broad-brimmed hats like 
the Quakers of our own land. I did not see much 
of the men, however. But both sexes have always 
retained the peculiar dress of their country, which has 
undergone no change since the time of Gustavus 
Vasa. From the forests of this beautiful primitive 
region, issued forth the future great King of Sweden. 
He had been a hostage of the cruel Christiern (Chris¬ 
tian), by whom he had been detained a prisoner. In 
the midst of his despair there was much of hope. He 
escaped from prison, disguised himself in the habit of 
a peasant, and wandered about the mountains and 
woods of Dalecarlia. The numerous copper-mines 
of the province afforded employment for all who 
would work ; and in these Gustavus laboured for 
subsistence and concealment. In the deep caverns 
he formed mighty schemes for the delivery of his 
country from tyranny and oppression. He gradually 
opened his mind to his fellow-labourers, who saw that 
a superior being had come among them. The miners 
of Dalecarlia were roused to take arms for their 


STOCKHOLM. 


93 


country. Gradually the whole nation rose against 
the tyrant Christiern, and the equally infamous Arch¬ 
bishop ; these magnates were repeatedly defeated, and 
soon vanished from Sweden, when Gustavus was 
elected King—his reign becoming distinguished by 
wisdom, good policy, and the establishment of the 
Lutheran religion. He reigned over the Swedes for 
thirty-seven years (to 1560), and may be considered 
the first of their great line of Kings ! 

And now, out of compliment to such monarchs, 
we cannot do better than pay a visit to the beautiful 
church of Ritterholm, the Royal Mausoleum, with its 
tall, light, and elegant iron spire, said to be formed of 
one casting. From our hotel, opposite the palace, 
and the short canal which joins the Baltic with the 
Malar, we set forth over a handsome granite bridge, # 
and soon found ourselves in the “ city ” of Stock¬ 
holm. Handsome shops line one side of this bridge, 
which do not add to its beauty, and which would be 
better away. Leaving the palace on the left, and pro¬ 
ceeding past the Foreign Office (distinguished by its 
colossal pillars), near the foot of a rather long and 
narrow busy street, not far from the water, stands the 
church of Ritterholm. Passing through the nave of 
this interesting building, effigies of armed knights on 
horseback, and various decorations—all belonging to 
the “ pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war ” 
—immediately arrest the attention of the surprised 
and delighted traveller. 

* New Bridge. 





94 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


Turning to the right, we halted before the tomb of 
Gustavus Adolphus, the illustrious grandson of Gus- 
tavus Vasa. I have always had a great veneration tor 
relics of the past. But no common relics were these 
which I now saw on each side of this honoured, kingly 
tomb. “ Gustavus Adolphus Magnus, 55 is the sim¬ 
ple inscription ; and every word has its own power of 
eloquence. The keys of the different fortresses which 
he captured, the standards and the kettle-drums, and 
all the trophies of Lutzen’s famous field, are here— 
all glorious witnesses to the cause of Liberty ! Long 
may these relics adorn the church of Bitterholm ; 
and, should the Swedes ever require it, call back the 
spirits of their fathers to defend the liberties of their 
country. The conquests of this monarch were enor¬ 
mous. Ingria, Livonia, Bremen, Pomerania, and 
above a hundred other places in Germany, were added 
by him to the Swedish possessions, and, as has been 
before remarked, he fell in the arms of Victory. I can 
imagine with what emotion every patriotic Swede 
must behold this tomb, the relics surrounding which 
are as dear to him as the flag of the ‘ Victory ’ was 
to the British sailors, who, beholding it about to be 
buried with Nelson, when it was lowering into the 
grave, snatched it and tore it in pieces to keep as 
relics of the great departed! “Though dead, his 
spirit still seemed to watch over the Swedish arms, 
and to ensure their success. 55 By a premature death, 
“ his guardian angel preserved him from the inevitable 
lot of humanity; the forgetfulness of modesty in the 


STOCKHOLM. 


95 


extreme height of success, and that of justice in the 
height of power.” Schiller concludes a beautiful 
eulogium on Gustavus, by remarking that “his na¬ 
tural bravery made him perhaps too often lose sight 
of what he owed to his situation as a General; and 
the death of a simple soldier ended the life of a 
King.”* 

About the middle of the seventeenth century, we 
notice a curious custom in Sweden, that of instituting 
Royal Orders for the possessors of beauty and virtue. 
The Amaranta f was one of these, instituted by Chris¬ 
tina, the daughter of Gustavus Adolphus, in honour 
of a lady of that name. Christina abdicated the 
throne in favour of her cousin, Charles the Tenth. 
This King added new conquests to those of Gustavus 
Adolphus ; and, like him, he died in the thirty-seventh 
year of his age. His son, Charles the Eleventh, was 
a warrior and inclined to despotism—declaring the 
Senate to belong to the King and not to the kingdom. 
In 1680, he married the daughter of Frederick, King 
of Denmark; and, of this marriage, on the 27th of 
June, 1682, was born Charles the Twelfth, of Sweden, 
before whose tomb, on turning to the left, I now found 
myself standing ! I thought it could not have been 
better placed than directly opposite to the tomb of 
Gustavus Adolphus. The simple inscription, “ Caro¬ 
lus XII.,” is quite sufficient for such a mighty career. 
In fact, both tombs are of the most simple character; 

* ‘History of the Thirty Years’ War.’ 

f Now one of the extinct Orders of Sweden. 



96 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


that of Charles, surmounted by the Swedish crown, to 
which he gave so much warlike glory. As a warrior, 
in the strictest sense of the word, he throws every 
other hero, ancient or modern, completely into the 
shade. Near the tomb are hung keys, bloody gloves, 
flags, and other trophies; while, at the base of the 
stone, probably at the head of the deceased warrior, 
a Polish standard erect is placed, which he had him¬ 
self captured on a hard-won field. Laying my hat 
beside the crown, I began to think of all I had read 
about this wonderful Charles, whose infancy was 
threatened by three powerful Sovereigns, and who, 
with giant-strength and nerve, seemed to rise superior 
to them all. Then I thought of the fate 

“-that bleeding thousands bore, 

March’d by their Charles to Dneiper’s swampy shore,” * 

and of the memorable winter of 1709, when he made 
long marches, during a mortal cold, and in one of 
these 2000 men fell down dead before his eyes ! 
Such was the fruit of one of his military exploits be¬ 
fore the battle of Pultowa. At length, I thought of 
the vanity of human wishes, and Johnson’s lines :— 

“ On what foundation stands the warrior’s pride, 

How just his hopes, let Swedish Charles decide; ” 

concluding, after a poetical review of his “mad” 
career, with the often-quoted, concise, and splendid 
couplet:— 

“ He left the name, at which the world grew pale, 

To point a moral or adorn a tale.” f 


* 4 Pleasures of Hope. 


t ‘ Vanity of Human Wishes.’ 





STOCKHOLM. 


97 


A variety of anecdotes and curious incidents are of 
course to be found in such an eventful life as that of 
Charles the Twelfth. Perhaps the most popular and 
best known of these is that which illustrates the force 
of his character, and his coolness in danger, the best. 
In his latter days, while shut up in Stralsund, on the 
Baltic, after performing prodigies of valour, and pre¬ 
vious to his escape into Sweden (an army of six-and- 
thirty thousand men, composed of Prussians, Danes, 
and Saxons, having had the honour of besieging the 
conqueror of Peter the Great at Narva), # while the 
bombs fell thick upon the houses, he was coolly dic¬ 
tating a letter to his secretary. Piercing the roof, a 
shell burst near the apartment where the King was. 
The report of the bomb made the secretary drop his 
pen—the idea of another being a death messenger, 
doubtless, starting to his mind. “ What is the mat¬ 
ter ? ” said the King, with a placid air, “ why do you 
not write ? ” The secretary could only say, “ Ah, 
Sire, the bomb ! ” “ Well,” replied the King, “ what 

has the bomb to do with the letter I am dictating to 
you ? Go on.” This scene has been admirably dra¬ 
matized by Planche, in his drama of ‘ Charles the 
Twelfth.’ 

As an artillery officer, perhaps, I may be excused 
for having related this well-known anecdote of “ the 
bomb; ” and, knowing something of the striking 

* (1701) The Kussians besieged Narva with 80,000 men. Charles 
hastened thither with 10,000 Swedes, forced their entrenchments, 
killed 18,000, and took 30,000 prisoners. 

H 


98 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


effects of a shell, I can easily account for the conster¬ 
nation of the poor secretary ! Hope revived among 
the Swedes when, after so many dangers, they heard 
their King was at Stralsund. He was indeed shaken 
by nothing. In October, 1718, he made his great 
attempt to conquer Norway. At the siege of Frede- 
rickshall he met his death. The hardships which he 
endured before this fortress are almost incredible ; but, 
after what he went through in Russia, they may be 
strictly believed. He had for eighteen years fortified 
his constitution to such a degree that he slept in the 
open field in Norway in the midst of winter, either on 
a truss of straw or a plank, covered only with a cloak, 
“without,” says his biographer, “the least prejudice 
to his health.” Soldiers dropped down dead beside 
him; while others more hardy were almost frozen to 
death; but their King suffering like themselves, they 
never made the least complaint. Out of Charles, the 
Temperance advocates may form excellent material 
for the support of their cause. He found out a woman 
who for several months had taken no other nourish¬ 
ment than water, and he determined to try how long 
he could fast without being worn out. He is said to 
have taken nothing for five days, on the sixth taking 
a long ride, and to have felt no inconvenience from 
his abstinence. In truth, it was only iron which 
seemed to make this “ body of iron ” give way. View¬ 
ing his men carrying on the trenches by starlight, the 
King’s body was exposed to a battery of cannon. A 
ball of half-a-pound weight—what we call in India a 



STOCKHOLM. 


99 


jingall —struck him on the temple. The mighty 
Charles fell; even in death courting the warrior’s at¬ 
titude by placing his hand on the hilt of his sword ; 
and the play was over ! # 

With Charles fell the rank of Sweden as a first- 
rate power; but, in the present state of Europe, there 
seems every chance of her obtaining it again, provided 
the reigning King, Charles the Fifteenth, plays his 
cards “ fearlessly and well! ” 

Turning, for the present, from this “ frame of ada¬ 
mant,” this “ soul of fire,”—the master who taught 
Peter and the Russians the art of war,—we descend 
and look at the vaults of Ritterholm church, which 
serve as burial-places for the Kings of Sweden. Here, 
sad end of all human greatness, kings and heroes lie 
side by side, in all the crimsoned pomp of state. The 
baby-brow which would have one day borne the 
“ round and top of sovereignty,” and the monarch 
who died well on in years, lie here alike. Above the 
vault containing the father and the late King, Oscar, 
and his son, is a beautiful Swedish marble monument, 
or tombstone, to Bernadotte, founder of the present 
dynasty of the kingdom. And hereby hangs a tale— 
one of very considerable interest, when we think that 
the Swede, on entering this beautiful church and be¬ 
holding the tomb of Bernadotte in as conspicuous a 
position as those of Charles the Twelfth and Gustavus 

* He was killed on the 11th of December, being “ St. Andrew’s Day.” 
So says his biographer; but this is old style—the 30th of November 
being the day with us. 

H 2 




100 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


Adolphus, forgetting all the defeats and misfortunes 
of his brave nation, looks to a bright future for 
Sweden ! The career of Bernadotte is well worth the 
attention of every student of history. I may here 
note a few points in his rise to eminence and fortune. 
Before doing so, I would remark that, as advocating 
or aiding the cause of popular instruction, even in a 
humble way, I endeavour never to lose sight of the 
great fact in the law of progress, that people as often 
require to be reminded as informed. 

When Bernadotte was about five years old, the 
war between France and England, consequent upon 
the American contest, extended to India. The reduc¬ 
tion of the French possessions in that country was the 
grand object of the British Government. Pondicherry, 
the Paris of the East, a very handsome little town,— 
which still exists, thinking over better days, and to 
which, being only eighty miles south of Madras, I 
once paid an interesting visit,—soon fell into our 
hands (1769). We then effected the reduction of 
Mahe, on the Malabar coast, another French settle¬ 
ment, but which Hyder Ali also claimed, and our 
taking which brought down the vengeance of the 
great Indian chief on our heads. I should have men¬ 
tioned, in my notes about Denmark, that the earliest 
Protestant mission to India was a Danish one. In 
1705, Frederick the Fourth, of Denmark, resolved to 
establish a mission for the conversion of his Indian 
subjects in Tranquebar and the adjoining territory, 
which for nearly a century was attached to the Danish 



STOCKHOLM. 


101 


Crown. To conciliate the chief of Mysore, we sent 
Swartz, the Danish missionary, to him with a letter. 
His reply contained an ominous message, which the 
rulers of British India should ever bear in mind,—“ I 
have not yet taken revenge ; it is no matter.” About 
ten years after this “ ill omen,” Bernadotte entered 
the French army; and in 1781 (in his seventeenth 
year), he was probably among the French allies who 
came to the assistance of Hyder. Be this as it may, 
Sergeant Bernadotte was at the siege of Cuddalore * 
(Fort St. David’s), ten miles from Pondicherry, about 
this period ; and on his return to France he rapidly rose 
on the wreck of the great revolution, ending the most 
astonishing military career ever known, by becoming a 
Marshal of France under Napoleon. Thus we have 
a Danish missionary, and a French soldier, who was 
afterwards King of Sweden, appearing in the theatre 
of hostilities in the East at a momentous period of 
Indian history. 

In 1810, Bernadotte became Crown Prince of 
Sweden. This election was consequent on the death 
of the Prince Royal, Charles the Thirteenth’s only 
son. The Swedes, in addition to considering his 
other excellencies, perhaps thought, and very justly, 
that with one of Napoleon’s oldest generals, the 
military glory of their country might be revived, 
and another Gustavus or Charles rise among them. 
Strange enough, the Emperor was violently opposed 

* Or it may have been at the defence, in 1783, when the French 
had concentrated their main strength there. 



102 


NOETHEEN EUEOPE. 


to the choice, although he appeared not to be so; 
and he used every endeavour to favour the Prince 
Royal of Denmark. Alexander of Russia, also, sup¬ 
ported this prince. Some most interesting conversa¬ 
tions are related as having taken place between the 
Emperor of the French (who aspired to have all the 
kings of Europe dignitaries of his crown), and ^the 
generous, high-minded Bernadotte. 

“ I deemed it my duty,” said the latter, “ to make 

all sacrifices of public feeling to maintain good intelli- 

* 

gence between the Empire and Sweden. I call God 
to witness, however, that I never will compromise 
the Swedish name.” Bernadotte resolved to request 
the delivery of his letters-patent, absolving him from 
his oath of fidelity to the Emperor, which hitherto 
had been preserved inviolate. Napoleon appeared 
surprised at this request. After a slight movement 
of hesitation, he said, “ There is one preliminary con¬ 
dition to fulfil: a question of deep import has been 
started by a member of the Privy Council.” “ What 
conditions, sire ? ” “ That of taking an oath never to 

bear arms against me.” To such an engagement 
Bernadotte would not consent. Elected by the Diet 
of Sweden Crown Prince of the kingdom, and as a 
Swedish subject, he indignantly refused to be placed 
on a level with the Emperor as a general. 

Napoleon said, at the conclusion of this interview, 
“Well, go! our destinies are about to be accom¬ 
plished ! ” On another occasion, when the election 
of the Prince to the second grade of royalty in 




STOCKHOLM. 


103 


Sweden was announced to Napoleon, he remarked, 
‘‘Ah-hah! so they have chosen him? It is well— 
quite right: they could not have made a better 
choice. I shall not stand in the way of his good 
fortune.” On Bernadotte’s wishing to change the 
title of Prince of Ponte Corvo, given him by the 
Emperor, Napoleon, in high dudgeon, said to one 
of his officers of state, “What is all this about? 
What does Bernadotte want ? What is this fuss 
about his being a Swede—constantly a Swede ? How 
many are there of these Swedes ? I wish to finish 
with them, and to hear nothing more of them.” A 
letter was w T ritten to that effect; or that Napoleon 
would be no more “ troubled with these two or 
three millions of Swedes.” “This intimation,” writes 
Bourrienne, “ went for something in determining 
Bernadotte’s conduct, from the campaign of Moscow 
to the battle of Paris.”* 

Bernadotte’s rise affords sufficient material of itself 
for a fair lecture. The curious manner in which one 
event seems to succeed another, to his advantage, is 
remarkably striking. Shakspeare’s immortal Thane 
is hailed by the witches on the heath,— 

“ All hail, Macbeth! that shall be King hereafter.” 

Then again, Macbeth’s own conclusion of the matter,— 

“ If chance will have me King, why, chance may crown me, 
Without my stir.” 


* ‘ Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte,’ vol. iii. p. 353. 



104 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


And again, the famous lines, so applicable to every 
career,— 

, “ Come what come may; 

Time and the hour runs through the roughest day.” 

These few pithy lines—such as only the Bard of all 
time could write—assist our thoughts in forming a 
just estimate of the rise of Bernadotte. 

The Continental system destroyed every kind of 
trade in the Baltic, eventually bringing on that famous 
war, the fatal issue of which was styled by Talleyrand 
as “ the beginning of the end; ” the hatred of the 
foreign princes against Napoleon, and particularly the 
violence of the King of Sweden against him ; Marshal 
Bernadotte’s accession to command in Hanover, and 
his intimacy with Bourrienne, the French minister at 
Hamburg his becoming commandant at Hamburg 
at a time when the exactions of the Emperor were 
oppressing the people of this commercial Hanse Town ; 
the esteem he gained from the inhabitants there; and 
the current belief that there was at least one honest 
Frenchman in the world; Bonaparte’s desire to possess 
Sweden, or, at least, his wish to detach her from the 
Coalition, when he thought she could be very useful 
to him, while Prussia, Russia, and England were 
against him in the North; Bernadotte’s appointment 
to the command of the French troops in Denmark, 

* During the war, Bourrienne had to look after prisoners in Ham¬ 
burg, and “neighbours” in Altona. Soon all fled to the latter town; 
and, after the battle of Jena, the chateaus of Weimar, Gotha, Bruns¬ 
wick, and Hanover were deserted, or filled with French soldiers, and 
their rightful inmates refugees in Altona.— Bourrienne. 



STOCKHOLM. 


105 


when, during his residence in Jutland, as well as 
when governor of Hamburg, he quietly and “ uncon¬ 
sciously ” prepared the votes which ultimately con¬ 
ducted him to the throne of Sweden; his saying on 
one occasion to Bourrienne, “ Would you believe it, 
my good friend, it was predicted to me at Paris, that 
I should one day be a King, but that I must pass the 
sea;” his character for benevolence and justice giving 
him a friendly reception in Denmark; Denmark’s re¬ 
senting French invasion of her territories by 30,000 
men under Bernadotte, which led her to claim the 
mediation of Russia; Napoleon’s famous interview 
with Alexander at Erfurth, which agitated the whole 
of Germany, and in which Alexander’s occupation of 
Finland was agreed to, and to Denmark was left— 
resignation; the refusal of the Hanse Towns to pay 
the French soldiers, who had neither money nor neces¬ 
saries ; Napoleon’s disapproval of the Marshal Prince 
de Ponte Corvo’s (Bernadotte’s) order regarding the 
gallant conduct of the Saxons at the battle of Wagram 
(5th July, 1809); Bourrienne’s advice after the Mar¬ 
shal became Crown Prince, “ Open your ports, and 
give free and generally to the Swedes that licence 
which Bonaparte sold in detail to intrigue and cupi¬ 
dity ; ” the seizure of Swedish Pomerania, and the 
island of Rugen, after the relations which had existed 
between Bernadotte and the Emperor; and Charles 
the Thirteenth’s breaking entirely with France, to¬ 
gether with Sweden’s joining the Alliance of England 
and Russia; Alexander’s interview with the Crown 




106 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


Prince at Aboo (August, 1812), when that Emperor 
came under a promise to Bernadotte, to protect him, 
at all events, from the fate of the new dynasties, to 
guarantee his position, and to obtain for him Norway 
as a compensation for Finland; the hint also, from 
Alexander, that to replace Napoleon he might be 
Emperor of France hereafter; lastly, Bernadotte’s 
consent to all the propositions of Alexander, and his 
assistance to the Allies against the common enemy of 
Europe. These form some of the most prominent 
and remarkable facts in the history of this wonderful 
career! 

In 1814, Charles the Thirteenth was elected King 
of Norway; and, in 1818, on the death of that sove¬ 
reign, Bernadotte, as Charles John the Fourteenth, 
ascended the combined thrones, ending a career which 
lives in the memory of every true-hearted Swede, in 
1844. 

While I was in the Ritterholm church, gazing on 
the tomb of this wonderful man, the present king, 
his grandson, was on his way back to Stockholm, 
after paying a visit to Napoleon the Third, at Paris, 
and receiving a royal embrace from the transcen- 
dentally clever and wily nephew of the great de¬ 
nouncer of Bernadotte ! 

The shields of the departed Knights of the Sera¬ 
phim are hung on the walls of this church, including 
that of the first Napoleon. Some of the deceased, 
I noted, were as late as 1860. To this highest Order 
of Sweden, natives cannot be admitted until they 



STOCKHOLM. 


107 


have first obtained either the Order of the Sword, or 
of the Polar Star ; and “ upon receiving the Order of 
the Seraphim, they are entitled to promotion to the 
rank of Commanders in the one previously obtained.” 
The motto of the Order is, Jesus hominum Salvator . 
The Order of Danebrog (of Denmark) is the next 
most important in Scandinavia. Its origin dates 
from the time of Waldemar, at the beginning of the 
thirteenth century, when it is said to have been insti¬ 
tuted in commemoration of a miraculous standard 
which fell from heaven during a battle with the Livo¬ 
nians, and ensured victory to the Danes. Upon this 
standard, it was said, was a white cross, and it was 
styled Danebrog , or Danenburgh; that is, The Strength 
of the Danes. On the four limbs of a Grand Com¬ 
mander’s cross is the motto divided, GUD. OG. 
KON. GEN. ( God and the King.) The cross is on 
a silver star of eight points. 

The badge of the Seraphim is an eight-pointed, 
white-enamelled cross of gold, with seraphim in carna¬ 
tion-coloured enamel; upon each limb of the cross is 
a patriarchal cross of gold, and upon a circular centre 
azure, are the golden letters, I.H.S. The badge is en- 
signed with a regal crown of Sweden, by which it is 
pendant, on ordinary occasions, from a sky-blue- 
coloured watered ribbon, and is worn scarfways from 
right to left.* 

* ‘ History of Heraldry, 5 by Thomas Hobson, vol. i. p. 142. His 
lamented Koyal Highness, the Prince Consort, was a Knight of the 
Seraphim— conferred on him, in 1856, by Oscar the First. 



108 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


Having seen everything remarkable in the Ritter- 
holm church (Riddarholms Kyrkan), taking a last look 
at the monuments to the mighty heroes who slept 
there, I left with feelings perhaps akin to those which 
possessed Mrs. Hemans when she wrote her beautiful 
lines on the “ Tombs of Platea.” 

“ And there they sleep!—the men who stood 
- In arms before th’ exulting sun, 

And bathed their spears in Persian blood, 

And taught the earth how freedom might be won. 



“ They sleep!—th’ Olympic wreaths are dead, 
Th’ Athenian lyres are hush’d and gone ; 
The Dorian voice of song is fled— 

Slumber, ye mighty! slumber deeply on.” 


The royal and private mansions at Stockholm are 
by some travellers not considered so fine as those at 
Copenhagen. They are certainly not so numerous. 
Perhaps, after rambling through the wide, straight 
streets, and the crooked, ancient streets, and viewing 
the canals lined with vessels, in the Danish capital, 
making such a “ picturesque and pleasing whole,” we 
are apt to he disappointed with Stockholm. But it 
is, in many respects, a beautiful city ; and for scenery, 
from some points, is more celebrated than most of the 
capitals of Europe. From one point, in one of the 
suburbs, you have a magnificent view of the sea and 
the lake, of the town and its suburbs. Then again, 
the town and its environs are interspersed with islets 
and rocks. “This,” says a lady traveller, “gives 
Stockholm such a curious appearance, that I can com- 



STOCKHOLM. 


109 


pare it to no other city I have seen.’ 5 The popula¬ 
tion of Stockholm was about 90,000. # No writer has 
set forth the praises of the Swedish capital with more 
enthusiasm than Felix Droinet, some of whose remarks 

9 _ 

on society there I shall translate from the French, 
after finishing our grand local tour of inspection. 

The King is coming ; we , among others, are im¬ 
patient for an audience ; so, to pass the time pleasantly 
until he does come, is our grand object. At few 
places in the city can this be done more profitably 
than at the Museum of Armour (the Royal Wardrobe), 
and the Royal Library. 

Before proceeding to the former, let us take a stroll 
to the esplanade on the south of the Palace, and 
observe the ganite obelisk of about one hundred feet 
in height, erected by Gustavus the Fourth, to com¬ 
memorate the fidelity of the citizens of Stockholm; 
also, lower down, near the shipping, let us halt for a 
minute before the splendid bronze statute of Gustavus 
the Third. Here that King in 1790, landed in triumph, 
and was shot two years after in the theatre, near the 
hotel (in Gustavus Adolphus Square) where we reside. 
On the noble new quay also, near this statue, and in 
an admirable position, the traveller will be delighted 
with the grand equestrian statue of Bernadotte. The 
horse is very fine ; and the King is represented 
in the business-like dress of a marshal,—baton in 
hand. The inscription is simple; and I could not 
help thinking, while entering it in my note-book, 
* In 1851. It is now nearly 120,000. 



110 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


that here was a king well worthy of such a noble 
statue :— 

“ Carl XIV. Johan 
Brodrafolkens—Fader 
af 

Oscar I. 

1854.” 

The pedestal is of white marble, and is in capital 
proportion. 

We now proceed to examine a few of the steamers 
and craft as we walk along the quay. The ‘ Aura ’ 
(literally the breeze) for St. Petersburgli, and the 
4 Svea ’ for Lubeck, are among the steam-ships—very 
fine vessels; the former very fast, and the latter with 
magnificent accommodation. Here we observed the 
evident want of room for the increasing traffic of 
Stockholm. Many vessels are ranged along stern ways 
instead of sideways, affording vast economy in space. 
On the quays, as in Denmark, there is little noise—no 
“ much ado about nothing! ”■—apparently a distin¬ 
guishing mark of Scandinavian workmen and others. 
We now repass the palace, recross the New Bridge, halt 
for a moment before the statue of Gustavus Adolphus 
(nearly opposite our hotel), and then proceed to inspect 
the museum of armour and other interesting objects, 
within a carbine shot of our residence. 

The glass cases, containing the dresses of some of 
the principal kings and queens of Sweden, are ad¬ 
mirably constructed with a view to exhibiting the 
costume of the great departed in the most favourable 
light. I found myself standing longest beside the 


STOCKHOLM. 


Ill 


plainest dress in the room, which the humblest volun¬ 
teer of the present day would disdain to wear. The 
plain, blue surtout , of rather coarse cloth, with plain 
buttons (not even a crown); the plainer cocked-hat 
with a bullet-hole in it; the very rough long boots 
and spurs; the fur cap he wore at Bender (with 
which the moths have played sad havoc); of course 
all these were worn by Charles the Twelfth. In 
another room, we have an effigy of the hero himself; 
and here we are at once led to think of his progress 
from the cradle to the grave. He is represented 
wearing a strange red wig, and clad in yellowish cos¬ 
tume, with a leather belt across, as if quite ready for 
some great assault. Near the figure is his cradle; 
leading us to imagine his having given more than 
ordinary trouble, while playing the part of the 
“ infant,” 

“ Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms! ” 

Then we have his money “ pigs ; ” and, in another 
room, his baby coach, gilt, with a leather top to it— 
all reminding us that— 

“ The sports of children satisfy the child.” * 

Now we come to the soldier, seeking “ the bubble 
reputation,” and behold his rough bed, of plain wood, 
and a number of guns presented to him; and here also 
is his favourite sword—in short, many reminiscences 
of the “ lion king.” Near the relics of the great 


* Goldsmith. 


112 


NOBTHEBN EUBOPE. 


Charles, the visitor will observe a brass cannon, re¬ 
covered from the ‘ Royal George/ and which w T as 
taken at the battle of Lutzen. 

A glass case, horizontally placed, contains the 
dress in which the hero of this battle, Gustavus 
Adolphus, fell. The silver embroidery is well pre¬ 
served ; and the bloody shirt of the mighty Gustavus 
leads us to think over the probability of, while fight¬ 
ing for Protestant Europe, his having died by the 
assassin’s hand. At the slaught* (Swedish for battle) 
of Lutzen, contemporaries were anxious to prove that 
the King of Sweden had perished by treachery ; and 
the author of the execrable treason was supposed to 
be Duke Francis Albert, of Saxe Lanenberg, a man of 
bad character, who had served all sides, and who had 
followed Gustavus, like his evil genius, on that 
memorable day. He was with him when he was 
wounded and when he died. “ But,” says Lord 
Dover, “ we have no evidence to support this hypo¬ 
thesis ; which, indeed, would appear to have been 
founded chiefly upon the love of the world for the 
mysterious and the marvellous.” 

Strange enough, too, Charles the Twelfth, many 
supposed, was murdered; or, at least, the manner of 
his death was considered dubious. Johnson, in his 
famous poem, thus alludes to his fall:— 

“ His fall was destined to a barren strand, 

A petty fortress, and a dubious hand! ” 


* &'chiodd! 



STOCKHOLM. 


113 


Even modern historians of repute assert that 
Charles was “ assassinated during his siege of Fre- 
derikshald in 1719,” and M. Siquier, his Aide-de- 
camp—a man of courage and conduct—was pointed 
to as the assassin. This report, which spread 
through Germany, is emphatically protested against 
by Charles’s biographer, Voltaire, to whom Siquier 
remarked, after being long grieved at the injurious 
aspersion:—“ I might have killed the King of Swe¬ 
den, but such was my respect for that hero, that had I 
conceived the thought, I could not have had the cou¬ 
rage to carry it into execution.” But the most con¬ 
clusive argument is, the ball by which Charles fell 
could not enter a pistol, which must have been con¬ 
cealed for Siquier to shoot his master! However, it 
is asserted by some that the hole in Charles’s hat is 
just the size of a pistol-ball. My firm belief is, that 
both Gustavus and the lion-king died as soldiers 
usually die, on the field—a fair and honourable death— 
the race run—the warfare over ! 

One more anecdote of Charles the Twelfth, which 
is very characteristic, and which I heard from an in¬ 
telligent Swede, who travelled with us en route to St. 
Petersburgh and Moscow. The Royal Order of the 
Garter was offered to him ; but plain Charles, want¬ 
ing nothing in the way of ornament, indignantly re¬ 
fused it, remarking that “ such an Order would do 
very well for women ! ” He probably alluded to its 
frivolous origin, as given by historians, as well as to 
the article itself. Had Charles lived in our time, and 


i 



114 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


read the history of ‘ British Costume ’—a rather un¬ 
likely book for such fiery metal !—he would have 
seen, on the authority of Camden, that Edward the 
Third gave “his own garter as a signal for a battle 
that sped well, which Du Chesne takes to he that of 
Cressy and, had he known that garters were worn 
by men in those days, he might have been induced to 
wear our celebrated British Order. 

We observed with much interest the charger, 
stuffed, which Gustavus- rode at Lutzen, also the 
dress in which Gustavus the Third was shot at the 
masquerade-ball in the theatre. Here is also the 
mask of the murderer. From the hole in the dress, 
it would appear that the fatal wound was occasioned 
by a small kind of grape-shot (like that used by some 
of the hill-tribes of India), and not by a common mus¬ 
ket or pistol ball. 

To an artilleryman, a curious piece of ordnance 
in this collection—especially in these days of Arm¬ 
strong and Whitworth—brings reflection on modern 
improvements in gunnery. The outside of this piece 
is covered with leather; we then come to the iron 
tube, which is lined with copper. The most primitive 
gun I have ever seen was that used by the Burmese 
during the war. Near Ava, their capital, beautiful 
little brass cannon were cast; but, to the southward, 
in Pegu, in addition to common iron guns and jin- 
galls, guns made of the palmyra-tree, and bound with 
iron hoops, were used against us. While marching 
with the Martaban column, I recollect a “ curry- 


STOCKHOLM. 


115 


stone ” # being discharged from one of these, killing 
a European, and striking not far from our gallant 
General f and his companion, Neill, afterwards the 
avenging angel of the Indian rebellion and the hero 
of Lucknow. The gun was fired by a slow-match, 
and the stone shot forth from the jungle as we 
marched along. 

The traveller will not fail to observe the glass 
cases containing the uniforms of Bernadotte and his 
son Oscar. The baton, cocked hat, and blue uni¬ 
form of the Marshal, are all here ; while Oscar’s mili¬ 
tary dress leads you to suppose the wearer to have 
been “ every inch a king.” The coronation robes of 
the present sovereign and his queen are also pre¬ 
served here, in addition to gold and silver plate of 
queens and princesses of days gone by. In another 
room we have the tortures used in bygone ages, 
mixed up with specimens of the stone and iron pe¬ 
riods. It was difficult to believe that an instrument 
of torture like the thumb-screw could ever have 
been used in a country like Sweden, which boasts 
a limited monarchy, with laws characterized by be¬ 
nevolence and mercy, with people of so mild and 
peaceable a character as to render terrific executions 
unnecessary. The monarchical government of the 
Danes also has long been characterized by wisdom 
and moderation; and the people justly boast of the 
superiority of their laws. I am not aware that edu- 

* Say a stone for pounding spices on. 

t Sir S. W. Steel, K.C.B. 

I 2 


116 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


cation is an object of such primary importance in 
Sweden as it is in Denmark. Nevertheless, if the 
latter country has produced its philosophers, mathe¬ 
maticians, antiquaries, sculptors, astronomers, phy¬ 
sicians, and philologers, Sweden has to boast of her 
kings, her chief of natural history, Linnaeus, and her 
far-famed “ nightingale of song ! ” 

At the Royal Library, we were received by M. 
Kleming, the librarian, who showed us every courtesy, 
while exhibiting his vast literary treasures. There was 
an ancient Runic manuscript of the Bible, I think, of 
the date a.d. 430. Then we saw M. Luther’s “ Bibel” 
with his own notes; also what was said to he the first 
Bible ever printed—■“ Speculum Humanae Salvationes 
Xylographon Friin”—1430-39. The librarian assigned 
to this the date, 1420. I now saw, for the first time, 
the largest book in the world. It was about three feet 
six inches long, three feet broad, and deep enough in 
all conscience : of its weight in pounds avoirdupois I 
am not certain ; and the whole consisted of Josephus, 
and the old and new Testaments, bound up together : 
“ Tryckt” (impressed or printed) “ Hos Kortor i Haar¬ 
lem.” We saw also Irish and Saxon manuscripts, of 
the seventh and eighth centuries. One of the latter 
kind, of the four Gospels, was indeed a curiosity. The 
large book, I understood, was found in Moravia, in 
1230, but was only recently purchased for the library. 
Some curious manuscripts have been discovered dating 
as far back as the third and fourth centuries. Beyond 
this, I believe, archaeological research cannot go. 




STOCKHOLM. 


117 


Iceland has lately revealed some rich literary trea¬ 
sures ; and who can tell what was doing in that cold 
region while we were yet in a savage state ? True 
enough, “ unrelenting past !” 

“ Strong are the barriers round thy dark domain.” 

The library contains nearly one hundred thou¬ 
sand volumes, besides manuscripts. But nothing 
interested me more than a sight of Charles the 
Twelfth’s plan for the siege of Frederikshald. It 
is simply a very rough pen-and-ink sketch — here 
and there the position dashed through, as if impa¬ 
tient to rectify the error, and be at the enemy. 
I fancy Charles was better in practice than in theory 
—apt to shine in the field rather than in plan drawing. 
We also saw a letter to his sister, written in a most 
remarkably unreadable hand ; like that written by some 
of the conceited and eccentric of our own day (to the 
terror of hard-worked editors and printers), who disdain 
to walk in the plain or legible, that is, in the “ vulgar” 
orbit ! Of course, there was nothing of that kind of ab¬ 
surd feeling about the “ lion-king and it was affecting 
to look on the epistle, penned by the stout heart which 
had braved so many dangers, and think that it might 
contain some tender words to her, the friend of his 
youth, before that ambition fired him which led to an 
early tomb ! 

Sunday at Stockholm appeared to be very well 
kept—many well-dressed and devout people attending 
the churches. Of these we visited two—one of which, 
or that in which the King sat, having magnificent 


118 


NOETHEEN EUEOPE. 


State seats for tlie sovereign and his queen, richly 
carved and gilt. The royal pair sit opposite each 
other. In this fine church there is a splendid organ 
the deep and mellow tones of which would draw forth 
admiration even from that experienced musician and 

builder of organs, Mr. H-n, of Edinburgh. The 

singing also was solemn and effective. Here I observed 
a fair copy of Michael Angelo’s famous picture of the 
"Day of Judgment,’ also a tolerable copy, by some 
Swedish artist, of the ‘ Crucifixion.’ The first- 
named picture is calculated to produce most solemn 
impressions on the mind; and it is, perhaps, the most 
awful subject an artist could he led to paint. Hope fled 
—-judgment only left ! The very thought is terrible ! 

Matthews, the ‘ Invalid,’ thinks well that the 
choice of such a subject shows the nature of Michael 
Angelo’s genius, which nothing could daunt, and con¬ 
demns Smollett’s absurd criticism of the picture, which 
styles it “a mere mob without keeping, subordination, 
or repose.” “ Repose in the last Judgment!” says 
Matthews at Rome, while viewing the original—“ when 
the trumpet is sounding, the graves opening, and the 
dead awakening !” Turning from the frightful calm 
of despair in the face of the condemned sinner, to the 
sublime figure of the Redeemer, seems, for the moment, 
to be a relief beyond expression ! 

The Royal Museum, in the Palace of Stockholm, 
contains a few hundred paintings; hut there are none 
of very great merit, by Swedish artists. There are a 
few gems by masters of the Italian, Dutch, and French 



STOCKHOLM. 


119 


schools. There are also some fine specimens of Swedish 
sculpture by Bystrom and others. We did not see the 
collection of drawings by old masters ; but, from what 
we read, it would appear that they are well worthy of 
inspection. The King of Sweden himself is an artist; 
and a good-sized landscape, in which is an encampment 
of soldiers (if I recollect right), the work of his brush, 
occupies a conspicuous place in the Museum. I may 
mention one Swedish historical picture— 44 The Slaught 
of Lutzen,” in which the 44 evil genius ” is seen near 
Gustavus, who, with his horse wounded, is set forth as 
the dying warrior, in colours quite vivid enough for the 
eye of a Turner or a Ruskin ! 

During a considerable stay in Stockholm we 
diversified our walks very agreeably, sometimes ending 
with a visit to the cafe on the new bridge, where the 
4 Allemagne Zeitung,’ and our facetious friend 4 Punch ’ 
awaited our arrival. 4 Punch ’ in Sweden ! But where 
is he not—our comic mental sun ? In Sweden, as in 
England, now-a-days, no man is a well-informed man 
who does not read the newspapers * There is a new 
museum, opposite the palace,f nearly finished when 
we were at Stockholm. It is a very elegant structure, 
bearing the inscription in gold letters, 44 Antiquitatis, 
Litterarum, Artium, Monumentis.” Near this are 
the marine barracks, where we saw some soldiers, off 
guard, fishing, and eating black bread with a gusto 

* The Secretary of State for India once made such a remark (from 
which I take mine) at a Mechanics’ Institute. 

f Called the palace of Stockholm, as well as the palace of the 
Crown Prince. 


120 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


quite refreshing. “ These men,” thought I, “inherit¬ 
ing the spirit of Charles, are of the proper material 
for a rough campaign !” 

We visited the Royal Theatre , opposite the palace, 
to gratify our curiosity by treading on the stage where 
Gustavus the Third was shot at the “ Masqued Ball,” 
by Ankerstrom. Great preparations were being made 
for the winter opening, which would not take place till 
after our departure. However, we managed to gain 
admission to the theatre (somewhat larger than the 
Haymarket of London, and more elegant), in the 
dressing-room of which, among other distinguished 
artists and vocalists, hangs a small picture of Jenny 
Lind; for here is the scene of all her early triumphs ! 
Mendelssohn’s remark, “There will not in a whole 
century be born another being so gifted as she is,” 
bears the force of truth upon it. Throughout Great 
Britain and America the name of the gifted and bene¬ 
volent Swede is associated with all that is beautiful 
and wonderful in the realms of song, in which she 
still reigns supreme. While recently listening in 
Edinburgh to her admirable singing in Haydn’s great 
oratorio, ‘ The Creation,’ it was natural to think what 
the wonder of the mighty composer would have been 
to have heard his sublime music so correctly rendered 
by a Swedish artist, who by her industry and virtues 
was long the pride of Stockholm ! 

Not far from the theatre is the Torg Square, where 
is a statue of Charles the Thirteenth, surrounded 
by four lions, the latter by Fogelberg, a sort of 


STOCKHOLM. 


121 


Thorwaldsen of Sweden. In this handsome square, 
which is tastefully planted, we noticed the care which 
the Swedes took of their young trees, encasing them 
in a warm covering against the coming of a severe 
winter. 

And now for a talk with Felix Droinet about the 
society of Stockholm. The existence of a stranger in 
the Venice of the North cannot be but agreeable. He 
will meet with so much courtesy, particularly in the 
higher circles, that although scarcely introduced to 
society in one of them, he will speedily be admitted 
to all the others ; and if he have sufficient tact not to 
allow himself to be governed by the spirit of party 
(prejudice)—that infirmity of human nature, fortu¬ 
nately very rare among the Swedes—he will soon find 
himself as in the bosom of a family, and everywhere 
the object of the most flattering and the most honour¬ 
able attention. But, under this similitude, it is 
above all to the Swedish ladies he is forced to render 
homage. Where can be found more decorum and 
affability than exists in their manners? Where do 
we meet more sweetness, more goodness united to so 
much dignity, more grace with so little coquetry, 
more wit with less affectation ? There the ladies are 
good, and prettier than elsewhere. (With this latter 
remark many will not agree.) They have a few faults 
in their composition it is true (others less frank would 
call them ornaments) ; but it is these very faults or 
ornaments which are natural to their sex, and which 
joined to the precious and solid qualities which they 


122 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


possess, make the Swedish ladies the most captivating 
in the world ! Go, then, and enjoy a visit to the 
capital of Sweden, and look upon it, in after-life, as 
a green spot in memory’s waste ! 


Drottningiiolm . 

The scenery of the Malar Lake, or Malarsee, is of 
a very attractive character. We paid a visit to the 
royal castle or palace which stands on one of its chief 
islands, and which is styled Drottningiiolm, or Queen’s 
Island. Here the Queen Dowager of Sweden resides ; 
that is, the mother of the King,—Josephine, daughter 
of Eugene Beauharnois, Duke of Leichtenberg (born 
in 1807). Here also, I believe, resides the grand¬ 
mother of the King, Dowager Queen Eugenie, the 
wife of the great Bernadotte (born in 1781). King 
Charles the Fifteenth married the daughter of Prince 
William Frederick, uncle of the King of Holland. The 
issue by this marriage is the Princess Louisa Josephine 
Eugenie. Augustus, Duke of Dalecarlia, we met at 
Drottningiiolm. This prince (born 1831) is about five 
years younger than the King, his brother. So much, 
then, for some of the royal family of Sweden * and 

* Pounder of the dynasty, 

Bernadotte. 

Son—Oscar I. 

Sons—Karl (Charles XV.). 

,, Oscar—Gustave (dead). 

„ Auguste. 


DROTTmNGHOLM. 


123 


Norway, the Goths and Vandals. We are ready to 
start for the Versailles of Sweden; for such has 
Drottningholm been appropriately styled. Leaving 
Stockholm one beautiful afternoon, after a brief and 
pleasant passage in a comfortable steamer, we arrived 
on the island, and were soon ushered into the palace 
by the Hoffmeister , who proceeded immediately to in¬ 
form the Prince Auguste of our arrival. The Prince, 
who was busy with some officers, soon approached us; 
and his manner was so affable on meeting that it set 
us quite at our ease. Opening business, by stating 
that we had some books to present to His Majesty, 
he kindly offered to forward our object; but on our 
remarking that we desired an audience of the King, 
we were informed that he would be in Stockholm in a 
day or two. The Prince conversed in French, and 
asked us to see the castle; and the stout hoffmeister 
was at once deputed to assist us. Accompanied, then, 
by this Swedish “ tun ” of man, we wandered at leisure 
through splendid suites of rooms. In one grand salle 
—the picture gallery—were all the sovereigns of 
Europe of our day, including Queen Victoria, by 
Winterhalter. The artistic finish of the portraits 
seemed the very perfection of painting. The King of 
the Belgians ; His Majesty of Denmark (an admirable 
portrait, in military uniform) ; the late Emperor 
Nicholas, of Russia; the late King of Prussia; and 
last, though far from least, Napoleon; all seemed— 
particularly the honest soldier-like visage of Den¬ 
mark’s King, set off by the blue coat and helmet— 


124 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


verily to breathe life on the walls ! * In another 
room were empresses and queens; among the former 
the captivating Eugenie, of France—female loveliness 
rescued from the common decay; and in a smaller 
room were the beauties of the voluptuous court of 
Louis Quatorze, that reign which was the glory and 
the shame of France. I was much interested by a 
painting in a hall (entitled the Salle of Battles) near 
this chamber, of the great slaught of Leipsic. This 
famous battle commenced on the 14th of October, 
1813, and lasted till the 18th, inclusive. It decided 
for the time the fate of Europe; and on the bloody 
field—a surface of three square leagues—half-a-million 
of men were engaged together. In the month of May, 
before this, Napoleon, who had begun to disregard all 
legal proceedings in the acts of his government, had 
fought the battle of Lutzen ; the field, it was observed, 
“ illustrious two hundred years before, as the scene of 
the triumph and death of Gustavus Adolphus.” The 
stout hoffmeister directed our attention to the various 
slaughts with a look of evident satisfaction, quite 
worthy of the fighting nation to which he belonged. 
Perhaps, for anything we knew, he might himself have 
served as a heavy dragoon ! 

We were admitted to the kitchen, as well as to 
the room where the Queen Dowager’s dinner was 
laid out, ready to be partaken of at the early Swedish 
hour of two. Everything was very neat and very 

* There are also in different rooms some lifelike portraits of 
Bernadotte and Oscar. 


LROTTNINGHOLM. 


125 


plain. I am almost afraid that economy, in many 
classes, has left the British isles and gone to Sweden! 

I think more and more that it would be useless to 
bring out in Scandinavia a pamphlet such as that on 
‘ Misexpenditure,’ now before me, as it would also be 
to delude the public into the idea that a respectable 
man, his wife, and two or three children, cannot live 
comfortably on three or four hundred pounds a year ! 
“ Time is money,” says Franklin. “ Misexpenditure 
of time, which is equivalent to money,” forms one of 
the sections of the pamphlet by the British writer, 
who has by his own industry and talents risen from 
comparative poverty to affluence, and is not a Frank¬ 
lin ! The great American philosopher paid a visit to 
the French; I wish he could have done so with us to 
the Swedish Versailles. After our inspection of the 
palace, we proceeded to walk through the grounds 
pertaining thereto. Beautiful trees, pleasant gardens, 
“ trianons,” as at Versailles, # and a Tyrolese cottage, 
added to some statues, well placed, but of a rather 
inferior description, compose the beauty of a place 
where the life, dreamy or inactive, may be passed away 
very pleasantly without the aid of frivolous courtiers 
in disguise, or Swedish beauties (as did Marie An¬ 
toinette) acting the milkmaid. And here I can imagine 
Bernadotte, when tired of State affairs, indulging in a 
solitary ramble, musing over the destinies of European 

* Of course neither so beautiful nor so large as the Grand and 
Petit Trianons; in the former of which Louis Quatorze loved, and, 
with De Montespan, ruled, not wisely; and in the latter, poor Marie 
Antoinette dressed, and frolicked, and wept. 


126 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


powers, and, from the depth of his benevolent heart, 
endeavouring to form plans for the good and the glory 
of Sweden. Having mentioned beautiful trees, here 
it may be noted that we observed none so fine as at 
some Tivoli gardens at Stockholm, where the enormous, 
but stunted, oaks, emerging, as it were, from granite 
and a poor soil, were really wonderful. How they 
came there we could not understand. 

Leaving the palace grounds, we proceeded to a 
Swedish inn to dine, before starting for the capital. 
An excellent dinner was soon provided, at a very 
moderate cost (in Sweden, a glass of jinkel , bread and 
butter, cheese, horse-radish, and other dainties, always 
precede the dinner); and we were soon on our way to 
the steamer. Passing the royal stables, we saw the 
carriages getting ready for the afternoon drive. When 
about to start, Prince Auguste (having changed the 
shooting-coat which he wore in the morning for an 
ordinary tailed coat with brass buttons, but wearing 
the same round, brown felt hat) accompanied a friend 
or two he had been entertaining to the vessel, and 
then left for the palace, with a graceful “ Good bye ! ” 
The Prince, I may mention, is tall, thin, and rather 
dark—in some respects like, but not nearly so broadly- 
chested, as his brother, the King of Sweden. 

The trip down the lake presented many beauties. 
No one can lavish too much praise on the lovely 
islands of the Malar. 

“ Within—without—all is enchantment! ” 

The view of Stockholm, as we approached, was 


UPSALA. 


127 


superb; a beautiful city of churches and palaces was 
before us. 

Steering for the church of Ritterholm, the tall spire 
of which was a capital mark, eight or nine principal 
spires of the city soon burst upon our view; nearer 
and nearer, and the scene changes its character; the 
port is reached, and we are “ back to busy life again!” 
This time, passing the Ritterholm, we stop at the 
House of Assembly of Swedish nobles, the Swedish 
palace of Westminster—the Riddarhoos —in front of 
which is the statue of Gustavus Vasa. In the old 
hall of the Riddarhoos , the eloquence of many kings 
of Sweden, and grey-haired senators, has been heard 
by a delighted assembly. Here the Pitts and the 
Burkes and the Sheridans of Northern Europe have 
all played their mighty parts, and, in many instances, 
played them well ! 

Reaching our comfortable hotel at a late hour, we 
soon retired to rest, to dream of all we had seen and 
enjoyed at Drottningholm. 

Upsala. 

Upsala is chiefly famous for its university, which 
is the most celebrated in the North. It was founded, 
nearly 500 years after the Christian religion entered 
Sweden, by Sten Sturre, regent of the kingdom, about 
the year 1477. The plan was that of the University 
of Paris. Like other ancient seats of learning, having 
sprung from the Church of Rome, the Jesuits kept a 


128 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


sharp eye on the progress of intellect at Upsala. 
For a time # they were the means of dissolving the 
university, with a view to establishing one in its stead 
at Stockholm; but it was re-established in 1598. 
Gustavus Vasa, educated at Upsala, was its grand 
patron; Gustavus Adolphus liberally endowed it. 
Bernadotte was a great favourite among the students; 
and his son, Oscar, with the Princes of Sweden, 
Charles (now King), Oscar, and Auguste, here re¬ 
ceived a portion of their education. It is written 
that Olof Skcetkonung was the first who exchanged 
the title of King of Upsala for that of King of Sweden 
(Swea Konung). He was also the first King who 
embraced Christianity (a.d. 1001), which, however, had 
been preached some 200 years before by the monk 
Ancchaire. “ Only consulting his zeal for the faith,” 
says a French writer, “he dared to come among these 
populations, up to that period peasants and pirates,” 
worthy only of the darkest ages ! La petite bourgade 
de pecheurs (the little town of fishermen), on the 
Malar, where Norwegian lawless bands had committed 
so much desolation, eventually “from dirt and sea¬ 
weed, as proud Venice rose,” became a town named 
Stockholm; and so the King of Upsala was no more ! 

Looking at the map of Sweden, we find this famous 
spot up the Malar, nearly due north of the capital, 
on a river, and nearly in the same latitude as Chris¬ 
tiana, Greenland, and Hudson s Bay. The parallel 

* From 1583 to 1598—about the time when attempts were made 
to induce the Swedes to return to the Romish faith. 


UrSALA. 


129 


of latitude of 60°, just touches the southern extremity 
of Greenland, proceeding westward, right through the 
“ world of ice.” Abo and St. Petersburgh are respec¬ 
tively only a little above and below this parallel, as 
may he said also are the Shetland and the Orkney 
islands. 

The trip to Upsala is a pleasant one, of only five 
or six hours’ duration. Again on the Malar, I am 
inclined to notice the tradition that this lake had at 
one period only two outlets into the sea, those at the 
two extremities of the bridge on the north; and the 
third, where the sluices are placed, must have been 
the work of man. It is attributed to the exertions of 
Olof Skoetkonung against Olof Haraldson, a pirate of 
renown, son of a Norwegian king, who, finding him¬ 
self shut in by his enemies, # and favoured by wind 
and current, managed by this passage to reunite all 
his fleet in the Baltic. After three or four hours, we 
pass the ancient town of Sigtuna, situated in “a pictu¬ 
resque and charming little valley,” said to derive its 
name from the old Roman town of Sixtum , the ruins 
of its round towers still remaining. Tuna signifies 
town, in the ancient language of Sweden; and Sigge 
is said to be the original name of Odin. The old 
towers of Sigtuna were almost the only relics of 
antiquity we saw as we steamed along. A few miles 
more up the lake, and we come to Skokloster, where 
is the grand castle of the Counts Brahe, celebrated in 

* Some say by the united fleets of the Swedish and Danish 
monarchs. 

K 


130 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


astronomical science and in arms. The chateau, from 
the lake, has a very ordinary appearance. There are 
four light turrets, to set off the building—white, with 
a dark slate roof. Some beautiful poplars are in 
front; and, as we passed, the dark green shrubbery, 
with a tower or so standing out, as it were, against 
the blue sky, lent a pleasing touch of the picturesque 
to the scene. One large tower appears to be sur¬ 
mounted by a hollow sphere.* The praises of the 
wonderful collections here, from which place as well as 
from Sigtuna boats came off to bring and to land 
passengers, were related us by no less a personage 
than the keeper of the chateau of Skokloster. Built 
towards the middle of the seventeenth century by a 
celebrated Swedish general of the Thirty Years’ War, 
it has become the repository of many interesting 
relics which will gratify alike the student and the 
antiquary. There is a statue here by Bystron, of 
Bernadotte, attired as one of the Scandinavian gods ! 
Soon on the river Fyris, we behold a large plain on 
which lie new and old Upsala. The latter is a few 
miles behind the new; and the old church and the 
grave-hills there were particularly noted by Madame 
Pfeiffer. Some of these hills, she supposed, conceal 
the graves of kings; and she saw similar tumuli 
during her journey to Greece, on the spot where Troy 
is said to have stood. 

We have now arrived in the celebrated town 

* Used by Tycho Bralie in his astronomical studies. Tycho Brahe 
was a Dane. 



UPSALA. 


131 


where, in the Cathedral, lies Gustavus Vasa; where 
the greatest of modern naturalists, Linnaeus, of whom 
Celsius was the early patron, laboured for after-ages, 
and founded the present system of botany in Europe; 
and where the youth of Sweden labour in that mine 
of erudition which is to fit them for the stern battle of 
life. 

Having made the acquaintance of a student in 
the steamer—no less a personage than the nephew 
of the great-grandson of Linnaeus—on landing we 
were at once conducted to a comfortable lodging, 
in a street at the top of which stands the grand 
library. 

Upsal (as the town is properly called, Upsala 
being chiefly confined to the Province) is, in a geo¬ 
graphical point of view, the Greenwich of Sweden. 
From its observatory the Swedish geographers reckon 
longitude. The population is about six or seven 
thousand. Included are about nine hundred stu¬ 
dents ; but several hundred more are on the university 
books. 

To the Cathedral was of course our first grand 
move in Upsala. We found ourselves standing before 
the tomb of Linnseus. I copied the inscription into 
my note-book—one of the most sublime in its sim¬ 
plicity that I ever read :— 

Carolo Linne 
Botanicorum 
Principi 

Amici et Discipuli 
1798. 

K 2 




132 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


A botanic garden, near the town, was the favourite 
resort of the great Linneeus, the Swedish sage , who 
has a place beside Newton, “ priest of Nature,” and 
Franklin, who grasped “ the lightning’s fiery wing,” 
in the ‘ Pleasures of Hope — 

“ The Swedish sage admires, in yonder bowers, 

His winged insects, and his rosy flowers ; 

Calls from their woodland haunts the savage train, 

With sounding horn, and counts them on the plain. 

So once, at Heaven’s command, the wanderers came 
To Eden’s shade, and heard their various name I ” 


A handsome chapel in the cathedral, with ceiling 
of azure blue, and embossed with golden stars, is the 
burial place of Gustavus Vasa, than which there is no 
more venerated name in Sweden. The walls of the 
chapel are covered with frescoes,—historical pieces, 
representing the most eventful scenes in the great 
monarch’s life,—all admirably executed by Professor 
Sandberg. One picture represents Gustavus, dressed 
as a peasant, standing on a barrel, and haranguing the 
people, probably calling on them and exhorting them 
to embrace the Protestant faith. Surrounded by such 
like happy reminiscences of his wonderful career, the 
mighty Gustavus lies interred between his two wives, 
the marble monument which covers his grave being 
rather clumsy, and lacking taste and beauty. There 
is nothing remarkable about the cathedral as a work 
of architectural skill. The high roof resting on two 
rows of pillars, and covering the whole church, has a 
grand effect. This cathedral was commenced about 


UPSALA. 


133 


the middle of the thirteenth century, and was finished 
towards the middle of the fifteenth; and long may the 
old brick Gothic pile stand out in relief against the 
blue sky, to show where true sons of science, and war, 
and virtue are at rest! 

We visited the library, and Mr. Fant, the learned 
librarian (to whom we had a letter of introduction) 
received us with much courtesy. The collection is a 
vast one, comprising about 100,000 volumes, in addi- 

r- 

tion to some thousands of valuable manuscripts. All 
this of course was to be expected in the city containing 
“ the great and unrivalled school of natural history.’’ 
Here w r e saw the first book printed in Sweden, entitled 
Collectio Fabulorum , or the Dialogues of the Creatures. 
The rooms of this library are magnificent, and, if we 
consider the order and arrangement which distin¬ 
guished the treasures in them, we must confess that 
the duty of a good librarian is no very light one. 
Your librarians of Northern Europe appear to have 
a Roscoe-like affection for their books; mind holding 
communion with mind being all in all to them ! 
Sten Sturre, founder of the Upsala University, intro¬ 
duced printing into Sweden, which now enjoys that 
mighty liberty which our Junius valued so much, and 
which is the glory of our empire—the liberty of the 
press ! 

Above the library, up a spacious stair, is a splendid 
hall, which I paced, and found to be about 200 feet 
long by 50 wide. Here the students hold their balls, 
concerts, and lectures. To the rear of the library, in 


134 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


the garden or shrubbery, is a bust of Bernadotte, and 
on the pedestal the inscription :— 

Carolus 

XIY. 

JoiIANNI 

Heroi 
Yictori 
Pacis 
Yindice 
Piet as 
Memor 
1854. 

And here, in a secluded spot, is a runic stone, of 
red granite, with its curious symbols and serpent-like 
figures, much decayed, but which had stood the iron 
tooth of time for more than 1000 years. 

Chemistry, moral philosophy, and natural history, 
I believe, are the three most important branches 
taught at Upsala. Like some of our British univer¬ 
sities, that of Upsal is divided into “ nations.” Each 
nation has power to expel a member. After expul¬ 
sion, should he be received by another nation, he still 
remains at the university. If not, he is removed. 
Each nation has its “predications,” debates, theatricals, 
concerts, and such like,—all, doubtless, ending in 
moderation with “ the feast of reason, and the flow of 
soul!” The Governor’s house is a large plain brick 
building, seen on entering the town. During an 
evening stroll I could not help admiring the beauty of 
the sunset at Upsala, and I also thought occasionally 
of Linnseus, who had given this place so much fame, 
and whose statue in the gardens here represents him 


UPSALA. 


135 


lecturing on his favourite plant, the Linnea Borealis ! 
One sign I noticed in the town— 

A, SoDERSTROM 

SOCKERBAGARE. 

This latter word simply implies sugar bakery , or, in 
fact, is like the confectioner’s sign in our own land. 
The students were just beginning to assemble for the 
season. The little houses in which many of them 
lodged seemed very comfortable, and I have no doubt 
of ‘ ‘ this little corner behind the world ” (as I heard 
a Scotch gentleman style Upsala) being the very spot 
for study. Everthing seemed so steady and quiet 
about the place. Leaving our lodging, and passing 
an artificial waterfall to reach our steamer on the 
following morning, we passed by some beautiful 
poplars, the crests of which seemed to kiss the bright 
blue sky. The clear atmosphere of Sweden and other 
northern countries, as it reveals all the beauties of a 
landscape, so does it exhibit architectural beauties 
and defects to an incredible extent. We had no time 
to visit the iron mines of Danemora, some thirty miles 
distant. Here the best iron is produced; and the 
most celebrated copper mines are at Fahlun, in Dale- 
carlia. About 100,000 tons of iron, 1200 tons of 
copper, 1000 pounds of silver used to be the annual 
produce of the mines of Sweden. Silver, I believe, is 
now nearly exhausted there, at least I am not aware 
of any new mines (like those formerly in Upsala 
province) having been discovered. The last returns 
of the iron manufacture in Great Britain (for 1860) 


136 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


give total make 4,156,858 tons. With reference to 
Swedish iron I may note—and it is of importance at 
the present crisis—that nearly three-fourths of all the 
iron exported from Gottenburg used to be to America. 
If we could stop her supplies of iron and lead from 
other countries, as we have now* wisely done those of 
saltpetre and military stores from our own (as a 
temporary measure at least), America would be greatly 
crippled in the, game of war which she plays so badly ! 

It is difficult to believe the fact that the annual 
value of the iron and coal raised in Great Britain ex¬ 
ceeds twenty millions sterling. Coal is from the 
German, Kohle. It comes from the sense of glowing, 
raging. In Danish, Kuler is to blow strong. I am 
not sufficient of a geologist to account for the extreme 
scarcity of coal in Sweden, and other countries of the 
North. Wood is the great commodity for domestic 
consumption ; and the boat-loads we saw of this pre¬ 
cious article at Gottenburg, Stockholm, and on the 
Malar—preparations for battle with a severe winter— 
would lead travellers to think that there is no coal in 
Sweden at all. But there is a small quantity in the 
south. Before leaving Upsala, observing a stock of 
dark-coloured ore piled at the water’s edge, I picked 
up a piece; but, from its peculiar appearance, I could 
not tell whether it was copper or iron. At any rate, 
it was much heavier than coal, and nearly as black.f 

* December, 1861. 

t On showing the specimen to a popular geologist in Scotland, he 
declared it to be a remarkable species of iron ore. I am not aware of 



UPSALA. 


137 


With so many mineral products in Sweden, and possess¬ 
ing such numerous forests of pine and fir, it is natural to 
think that the pre-Adamite theory of minerals retaining 
the colours which the light of the sun had produced 
in the vegetable material, of which they are the organic 
remains, would be well received in the country; and 
that colours even surpassing in brilliancy the mauve and 
magenta would be produced. But there are only two 
leading colours in Sweden, (and even the ladies are 
content with these !) blue and black ; although in 
some instances a variation of colour distinguishes the 
inhabitants of one province from those of another. 
The trouble of producing brilliant colours from coal- 
tar would seem to be quite unnecessary here, especially 
when we find that even at weddings bride and bride¬ 
groom appear in black! In some of the mining dis¬ 
tricts the men and boys wear long dark-blue cloth 
surtouts, with cloth caps, like “walking gentlemen” 
on the stage. On a nearer inspection, the leather 
apron beneath shows them to be respectable mechanics 
or labourers. Madame Pfeiffer thinks that, “in dress 
and shoes,” the Norwegians and Swedes are behind 
the Icelanders (whose dress is somewhat similar to 
that of the peasants of Norway and Sweden; the ladies, 
however, being very fond of ornaments), but surpass 
them in the comfort of their dwellings. 

But the fact is, there are well and ill-dressed 

the frequent appearance of the coal-plant in Sweden, in our country 
found in the sandstone or ironstone associated with the coal forma¬ 
tion. 




138 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


people in Sweden, as everywhere else. In Norway the 
women care more about variety of costume than in 
Sweden. The ladies of Iceland, under the Arctic Circle , 
must have invented crinoline. In this age, when 
dress seems to be the grand mental idea with so many 
in our own land, this slight digression on costume and 
colour may be pardoned ; especially when dyes, rival¬ 
ling those of ancient Tyre, like cotton, are not now to 
be had from America. 

The steamer is about to leave Upsala. We re 
gretted having no time to pay our respects to the 
Archbishop, Primate of all Sweden, who takes upon 
himself “ the care of all the churches ” for eight hun¬ 
dred pounds a year ! The worthy descendant of 
Linnaeus met us at the steamer, to say “Farewell! ” 
Numbers of students, and, doubtless, some of their 
fifty professors, were present to see the start; and so, 
taking a kind farewell of this scientific and classic 
region, this little corner behind the world , we steamed 
away from Upsala. 

Sweden and Norway form together a large penin¬ 
sula between the Atlantic, on the west, and the Baltic 
and Gulf of Bothnia, on the east. Both Norway and 
Sweden, for such large countries, contain compara¬ 
tively few inhabitants. Sweden, more than nine hun¬ 
dred miles long by nearly two hundred * broad, has a 
population of little more than three-and-a-half mil¬ 
lions. Combined with Norway, still more thinly 
populated, the inhabitants number little above five 
* Average breadth from cast to west. 


UPSALA. 


139 


millions. It is, perhaps, this want of people which 
has kept back that rapid march of civilisation which 
otherwise might have been expected in those coun¬ 
tries lying to the north of the Baltic Sea. 

Although Charles the Fifteenth is King of Sweden 
and Norway, still these may be considered two per¬ 
fectly distinct states, having separate governments, 
assemblies for debate, and financial and judicial esta¬ 
blishments. In Norway the Storthing answers the 
same purpose as our British Houses of Parliament; 
and it is a great day of rejoicing in the North when 
the King arrives at any important town on his way to 
Christiana, to prorogue this learned Assembly. In the 
trading city of Gottenburg, especially, all are in holiday 
attire; and the military, the clergy, the officials, 
and loyal citizens, exert themselves to the utmost 
to do honour to their King. The revenue of Sweden 
and Norway is, I believe, about two-and-a-half millions 
sterling. That of Denmark, which, during one year, 
included what was obtained from various countries 
as compensation for the abolition of the Sound Dues, 
is less than two millions. The latter country has a 
comparatively large national debt. The single revenue 
of Norway is not large. It is settled by the Storthing, 
when that assembly sits, every three years. 

On our return passage from Upsala to Stockholm, 
we became acquainted with an eminent Scotch pro¬ 
fessor, who was very obliging and communicative, and 
who knew a good deal about the North. The con¬ 
versation at one stage ran on the all-important subject 


140 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


of Temperance . In Sweden, drinking has, on the 
whole, decreased within the last five years, although 
on market-days a good deal still prevails. There are 
temperance societies in the country, but these are 
chiefly confined to not drinking spirits or brandy. At 
Upsala, among the students, I should think that port 
and sherry were chiefly consumed. We observed 
large supplies of these wines (port is very good in 
Sweden) on the quay there, when, I imagine, the 
winter’s stock was being laid in. It is said that the 
Danes drink hard; but neither in Denmark nor in 
Sweden did I see one case of drunkenness, and this is 
saying a good deal. Being a “note-taker,” and anxious 
to do justice to the people of the North, I pryed 
into many places, and had fair opportunity of observa¬ 
tion. In the great city of Glasgow, I read that a 
million pounds annually are spent by the working 
classes upon “ drink,”—considered moderate in a city 
with a population of nearly 500,000. But this million 
is more than half the entire revenue of Denmark ; and 
only imagine if it were given to her instead of being 
consumed in Glasgow, what a splendid navy she would 
soon have floating in the Baltic ! 

Turning to other subjects, it was remarked that, 
in some parts of the country, the water-level was 
above the level of the land-line, thereby causing damp, 
wet, and malaria. This could not be overcome, al¬ 
though by blasting out of solid rock, for canal pur¬ 
poses, the difference of level in a river might be. On 
railways being first mooted in the Council, at Stock- 



UPSALA. 


141 


liolm, a member rose and opposed them. As there 
was plenty of time in Sweden, they were not required; 
the expense was uncalled for! This is almost as good 
as the arguments of some eccentric public men in 
England, who owe their very security and prosperity 
to war, and yet, even when necessary, make a rule of 
opposing it! On our way to Stockholm we passed an 
agricultural school-farm, and on the river’s bank, we 
saw some splendid cattle feeding. By far the greater 
portion of the Swedes live by agriculture ; and the 
excellence of some of their implements is well known 
in Great Britain. In many parts of the country (at 
Motalla, for instance) British overseers and workmen 
are employed. The Swedes seize with readiness any 
improvement made by us in thrashing machines, or 
other economists of manual labour, and spare no ex¬ 
pense in importing for the benefit of the country. 

We also talked about the Observatory at Upsala, 
which was new, with a telescope of a very superior 
description. This led to a remark about Celsius, the 
great Swedish astronomer, and whose barometer at 
the present day is used in Sweden. I now learned a 
few more words of the language, to which I alluded 
at Gottenburg as being so expressive. There was 
riika , to smoke ; rilk , smoke; and our Scotch word, 
reek! and then the Scotch mirk niclit is, in Swedish, 
murk nat; and “murky” is a well-known word in 
Shakspeare. Near some beautiful scenery on the 
Malar, a boat came alongside, and took the learned 
professor from us. He seemed to be quite at home, 


142 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


talking Swedish as he settled himself down in the boat. 
He had gone off to visit some friends ; and now no¬ 
thing was left us but to think of all the pleasures we 
had experienced during our never-to-be-forgotten ex¬ 
cursion to Upsala. The Malar lake in winter is frozen 
over to such an extent that it is no very difficult work 
to skate to Drottningholm. Now is the gay season for 
Stockholm, and sledges and carriages abound on the 
ice. At the new bridge, where is the junction of the 
Malar with the Baltic, the current is so strong, I am 
informed, as to defeat the powers of freezing point! 


143 


y. 

VISIT TO THE PALACE AT STOCKHOLM—CHARLES' THE 
FIFTEENTH, KING OF SWEDEN. 

The absence of King Charles from Sweden had 
caused a degree of uneasy feeling in the country. 
At Gottenburg, we heard it asserted that his de¬ 
parture had been feared by the people. Some great 
political design was in view. Was Denmark to be 
given up to Russia on the death of the present King ? 
In such an event, and neither of their Highnesses, 
the old heir-apparent, the King’s uncle, Prince Fer¬ 
dinand, nor the heir-presumptive, Prince Christian, 
succeeding to the Danish throne, why should Sweden, 
in her race for increasing glory, not gain the prize ? 
The Swedes w T ere now more friendly with the Danes 
than ever. The Russians putting a prince on the 
throne of Denmark, would utterly destroy the balance 
of power in Europe. In addition to this, there was 
some superstition about the King going away, not 
returning, and so forth. At any rate, his departure 
was made in as quiet and unostentatious a manner as 
possible. And this only tended to fan the flame of 
curiosity ! 


144 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


Now tliat his speedy return from London and 
Paris was announced, Stockholm resounded with 
joy ; and every one was on the tip-toe of expectation 
to see their King again. 

The evening of the King’s arrival in the capital 
was one of loyal demonstration; and, as we strolled 
along the New Bridge, we observed, in some pleasant 
“tea-gardens” below (charmingly situated near the 
water), Carl KV., in most brilliant letters of fire, 
which announced to all that their monarch had 
again entered the metropolis of Sweden. The eyes of 
the Swedish ladies brightened up at the prospect of 
seeing him, doubtless, not less than did those of the 
beauties of Scotland, in Jacobite times, to welcome 
Prince Charlie ! 

Having arranged with Baron Manderstrcem, 
Minister of Foreign Affairs, an audience with His 
Majesty, my father received, on the day of the Royal 
entrance into the city, a polite letter from that 
state functionary, intimating the King’s readiness 
to receive him at an early hour on the morrow “ at 
His Majesty’s private apartments in the palace of 
Stockholm.” 

I was prepared to accompany him as Attache on 
this august occasion. There was to be a grand public 
reception or levee at two o’clock, for the reception of 
General Solarali, to invest the King with the Sardinian 
Order from Victor Emmanuel; but our visit was long 
before that hour. We drove up to the palace, and 
were not a little surprised by the shout of a sentry in 


CHARLES XV., KING OF SWEDEN. 


145 


the distance, and the alacrity with which the guard 
turned out to receive us; for anything they knew, 
we might have been extraordinary ambassadors from 
Denmark or Russia ! Alighted at the private en¬ 
trance, we proceeded upstairs, and were received 
by a lord-in-waiting, in blue uniform, in the ante¬ 
room—a plain though spacious library, with a bil¬ 
liard-table in the centre. His Majesty was busy 
with some civil and military officers of rank, who 
had evidently been making their official reports to 
one who was Commander-in-chief as well as King. 
Military officers came out from the audience cham¬ 
ber, in rapid succession; and, after a short interval, 
the lord-in-w T aiting announced that the King was 
ready to receive us. We entered the Royal chamber, 
and before us stood Charles the Fifteenth, King of 
Sweden. 

His Majesty advanced to meet us in the most 
condescending manner, having been previously made 
aware of the object of our visit, and received us with 
even more than that courtesy which we were led to 
expect. He looked “ every inch a king! ” Tall, 
dark, w T itli a most intelligent and pleasing, yet de¬ 
cided expression of countenance, he struck me as 
being just the fit man to govern Sweden. Nay, more, 
to be the future Sovereign of the three Scandinavian 
kingdoms ! His manner was easy and affable; and, 
on my presenting him with ‘ Pegu, a Narrative of 
the Second Burmese War/ containing a few mili¬ 
tary plans,—certainly more clear than the specimen 


146 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


shown us as that by the great Charles the Twelfth, of 
Frederikshald,—he seemed quite pleased with, per¬ 
haps, the best present a soldier can give, his account 
of a campaign in which he had shared danger and 
honour alike. Looking at some of the plans, “ Are 
the Burmese brave ? ” asked the King. I replied, 
“Yes, Sire, as much so as other Asiatic nations/’ 

An easy and pleasant conversation followed, in the 
course of which we remarked on the rising city of 
Gottenburg and its increasing trade with Britain. 
The King also expressed himself highly pleased with 
his recent visits to Paris and London. 

And now, having accomplished the object of our 
visit, we craved leave to depart, the King bidding us 
a most cordial farewell before we left the audience 
chamber. What surprised me most was the off-hand 
easy manner with which he had invited us to be seated 
beside him, as if he had been a very ordinary person, 
instead of the King of Sweden, the grandson of Berna- 
dotte, and the son of Oscar, who had married Jo¬ 
sephine Beauharnois, daughter of Prince Eugene, 
and grand-daughter of the fascinating Josephine, who, 
as his fond wife, played such an important part in the 
great ‘Napoleon’s history! 

Charles the Fifteenth struck me, although of 
French descent, as carrying out the idea of Swedish 
character to perfection, and being the fit Sovereign 
for a people whose physiognomy gives no indication 
of the more violent passions, but expresses docility 
and good humour, concealing, as it were, their cha- 


CHABLES XV., KING OF SWEDEN. 


147 


racteristic bravery, and vast powers of enduring 
fatigue. 

But such amiable qualities as be possesses, we all 
know, without energy and decision , would make a use¬ 
less King. I believe him to have a fair share of the 
latter, with, like his father, abilities and acquire¬ 
ments beyond the average of the crowned heads of 
Europe. 

Should he eventually gain “ the magnificent inherit¬ 
ance” of the House of Denmark, I think much good may 
accrue to all three kingdoms. I read that Schleswig and 
Holstein will never consent to the Scandinavian scheme. 
It is likewise said, that none of the great European 
powers are likely to concur in such an arrangement. 
But why, in these days of “ unity,” this should be so, 
I cannot understand. Russia not giving up Finland, 
and the Germans wishing the non-inclusion of Schles¬ 
wig in the new scheme (to carry out their plan of 
unity), are political difficulties which might, with some 
tact, be got over; and then, with two navies, two 
armies, and some six or seven millions of brave “ north¬ 
erners,” if Great Britain could only get the sovereign 
of such kingdoms to be her perpetual ally , the Queen 
of our glorious empire would more than ever be Mis¬ 
tress of the World ! Let there he war with America, 
Russia, in India, or elsewhere, with the command of 
the Baltic and the North Sea, with brave Swedes to 
fight, and brave and skilful Danes to navigate, in addi¬ 
tion to our own resources, throughout the world, and 
the British Lion must overcome every toe ! 

l 2 


148 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


From such an army * as that of Sweden, and a 
large militia, I presume that 100,000 men could, 
with ease, at any time be brought into the field. 
The greater portion of the enlisted soldiers are artil¬ 
lery. We did not see much of her navy, of which 
Carlscrona (south-east of Gottenburg, on the Baltic), 
in addition to having a considerable trade, is the prin¬ 
cipal station. (The harbour here can accommodate 
100 ships of the line.) But I am told that it consists 
of several ships of the line, frigates, brigs, and a con¬ 
siderable number of gun-boats and steamers—a portion 
of which would be splendid auxiliaries in a general 
war. In such an event, the often-quoted old sentence 
about Denmark may have two readings. “ Her exist¬ 
ence is a political necessity, because Denmark is the 
guardian of the Sound, and because it is to the interest 
of Europe that both shores of the Sound should not be 
in the hands of one Government, which would thereby 
be enabled to close the entrance to the Baltic.” This 
serves either for keeping up Denmark as a kingdom, 
or giving us a most useful imperial ally (Sweden), 
especially in a naval war ! The land forces of Den¬ 
mark, I believe, are not numerous—about 50,000 men. 
The Danish fleet, of course, takes its fame from what 
it was at the beginning of the present century; for 
instance, at Copenhagen, when it comprised nineteen 
large men-of-war, and floating batteries, supported by 

* Composed of three classes, regularly enlisted men, indelta (some¬ 
thing like the feudal plan of raising men), and militia. The indelta 
system was founded by Gustavus Adolphus. The men are also em¬ 
ploye.! in making roads, canals, bridges, and other public works. 



CHARLES XV., KING OF SWEDEN. 149 

the Crown Islands, mounting nearly 100 pieces of 
cannon, and well-served guns on the Island of Amak. 
It was during the heat of this action that Nelson ob¬ 
served, with a smile, “It is warm work, and this day 
may be the last to any of us at a momentand, again, 
the never-to-be-forgotten expression, “ But, mark 
you, I would not be elsewhere for thousands !” Den¬ 
mark has still a few men-of-war and frigates—two or 
three of the latter steam—in addition to many small 
vessels for the defence of her coasts, and some excellent 
small war-steamers. By losing Norway, she became 
deprived of a large proportion of sailors. But still, in 
this respect, she seems to manage wonderfully well. 
Denmark, we read, with a merchant fleet of 155,000 
tons, possesses a navy nominally numbering 129 ships 
of all classes. Germany, with a tonnage of more than 
fifteen times the amount belonging to her diminutive 
neighbour, cannot boast the possession of more than 
fifty-five men-of-war, forty of which belong to the class 
of gun-boats ! The chief exports of Denmark, like 
those of Sweden and Norway, are partly to England, 
and partly to Hamburg. The coal-trade of Denmark 
is astonishing—making up for her deficiency in that 
mineral. 

Looking at some statistics of vessels engaged in the 
oversea coal-trade of the United Kingdom,—total, 3087, 
I perceive, that, while the French have only 332, and 
the Prussians 263, the Danes have 362, the Swedes 
128, and the Norwegians a similar number. Here, 
then, is material for a probably coming empire ! Brutus 




150 


NOETHERN EUROPE. 


said that Csesar was “ ambitious and so, it is said, is 
Charles the Fifteenth. There is one thing clear— 
alone , he would not be able to re-conquer and hold Fin¬ 
land. In the seaports there, a good feeling towards 
Russia still exists. In short, in war as in politics, the 
days for “ Alone, I did it !” appear to have passed 
away for ever. Brotherhood appears to be the order 
of the day ; it would be well if it were so for peace as 
well as for war! The remark recently made by the 
King of Sweden to the French Emperor at Paris, that 
the beautiful capital was “ at once a drawing-room, a 
theatre, and a fortress,” was a very significant one. I 
wonder what he would remark now that he knows the 
financial results of keeping up large armaments and 
building splendid palaces ! The Swedes are a quiet 
people, and do not require, employment, and excite¬ 
ment, and novelty, to keep them from revolution ! 

The grand review and sham fight at Aldershott 
must have given Charles some idea of our great military 
resources; and I regretted not having seen him in 
'front of the chosen 14,000, as he and the Crown 
Prince passed down the British line (conspicuous by 
the yellow plumes which waved from their cocked 
hats), beholding the finest infantry in the world—the 
dashing, fearless British cavalry—and the large force 
of the branch which rivals “ lightning’s flash in ruin 
and in speed”—the artillery, armed with the new 
triumph in science, the Armstrong gun ! 

He would tell them what he thought of it all on 
his return to Sweden. With the limited or constitu- 




CHARLES XV., KING OF SWEDEN* 


151 


tional monarchy of which he is the head, I believe a 
high degree of rational liberty is enjoyed. The Swedes 
take him as an oracle ; and, as he does everything him¬ 
self, consider him the most useful man in the world ! 
In the words of Pope— 

“ Wise if a minister ; but if a king, 

More wise, more learn’cl, more just—moro everything.” 


152 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


VI. 

TO HELSINGFORS—THE RUSSIAN WAR. 

We had resolved to leave Stockholm in the ‘ Aura/ for 
St. Petersburgh. His Majesty of Sweden not having 
been able to receive us, until the day after the depar¬ 
ture of that fine vessel, changed our destination to 
Helsingfors, the Russian capital of Finland, from 
which port, after a short stay, we now determined to 
start for the land of the Czar. 

We had seen and heard strange things since we had 
arrived in Sweden. We had found much to admire 
and little to censure; we liked the country and the 
people. There is something about the Swedish cha¬ 
racter so noble, and yet so homely and contented 
withal, so cheerful, without any approach to frivolity, 
so pious without ostentation, that I cannot help 
thinking, if I were not a Briton, I would be a Swede ! 
I am sure that had we been longer among the Swedish 
people we should have been pleased with them the 
more. Bui, although leaving the country with regret, 
as will be seen hereafter, we were not taking leave of 
Swedish hospitality. The chief wonder of our visit, 
in an historical point of view, was our shaking hands 
with Charles the Fifteenth, after his return from em- 



TO HELSINGFOES. 


153 


bracing the Emperor of the French, who bears the 
name and borrows a portion, if not all, of the im¬ 
mortal fame of him who made his own Marshal his 
enemy ; Bernadotte, who afterwards founded a line of 
kings, and seemed to repay the treatment he had re¬ 
ceived by rising, as it were, from his tomb in the Rit- 
terholm, and sending his royal grandson to be welcomed 
and feasted by another Napoleon in Paris! 

The ‘Furste Menschikoff’ figures in the ‘Letters 
from the Baltic; ’ for it was that steamer which bore 
the accomplished authoress to Revel, from Helsing¬ 
fors, to which capital, in the same steamer, we were 
now bound. 

Russian history has made the name of Prince 
Menschikoff immortal. Furste is an etymological 
study of no ordinary importance. The Saxon is first , 
or fyrst. In the German, we have fiirst, and erste. 
In the Danish, fyrste means a prince , that is, first- 
man. In Swedish, furste , without dots, signifies 
prince , and forst, with dots, first. Shakspeare rhymes 
to the point, unconscious of the Danish meaning of 
the word, when he makes the Player Queen in 
4 Hamlet’ say— 

“ In second husband let me be accurst! 

None wed the second but who killed the first” 

One more look at the Venice of the North, from 
the sea. The spires of the churches, other noble 
structures, with vessels riding at anchor beneath the 
very windows, gradually disappear. Good-bye! to the 
Swedish capital of homely splendour and hospitality ^ 


154 


NOETHEEN EUEOPE. 


perhaps, for ever ! Away, across the Baltic, to Abo, 
fast as the ‘ Furste MenschikofF ’ can carry us ! which 
is not very fast, the hey-day of the Prince’s youth 
having long departed. The Captain—I invariably 
take a close survey of this officer in commencing a 
voyage—was a large, good-looking man, very silent, 
civil, and very careful. The latter quality was abso¬ 
lutely requisite in navigating us over such a perilous 
track. Many rocks and islands soon appeared— 
volcanic upheavals—the tops of mountains—as if to 
warn us against sleeping in security. Perhaps, with 
the same theory, that Denmark, on which the sea 
has so much encroached, was once united to Scot¬ 
land, Sweden, the Aland Isles, and Abo in Fin¬ 
land, formed a path across what is now the south of 
the Gulf of Bothnia, when that gulf would be simply 
a large lake! 

In the evening we anchored, intending to start 
early in the morning. I got into conversation with an 
intelligent Swede, bound for Moscow, who appeared 
to have a very strong predilection for everything 
pertaining to the British Isles. The motives which 
had impelled him to travel were of a very various 
kind; and, after rattling away for some time in a 
rather amusing manner, he concluded his discourse 
by gravely observing, “Had I not been a Swede I 
would have been an Englishman ! ’ ’ 

He was eloquent on the beauties of Moscow, with 
its 712 churches, its brilliant society, and the best 
singers in the world. 



TO HELSINGFORS. 


155 


To see Russia you must see Moscow—the old 
capital—the Genius of which, to repel French inva¬ 
sion, clad himself in robes of tire. On the ashes has 
arisen a city more beautiful than ever; and, although 
we could not gratify our intense curiosity by paying 
it a visit, yet, from all I have read and heard, no man 
who travels in Russia, for pleasure or for profit, 
should omit a sojourn at Moscow. 

In the morning we were off the Aland Isles, having 
crossed a portion of the Gulf of Finland. It was a 
most beautiful morning; and we were, as before, 
steaming through dangerous and intricate passages. 
“The Swedes/’ thought I, “would only have to re¬ 
move all the sticks and beacons in this quarter, to 
prevent the approach of the most determined enemy 
to their shores.’ 7 Passing by picturesque islands, of 
various size and beauty, studding the sea like so 
many emeralds of the ocean, in the afternoon passing 
through a beautiful strait, we came in sight of Abo. 
Now, in view of the Finnish shore, I am led to 
remark that after the interview at Erfurth between 
Napoleon and Alexander, and the consequent wrest¬ 
ing of Finland by the latter from Sweden, Russia 
had to support her occupation of the new province 
by a considerable number of troops. Napoleon, 
ready for any game, hinted to Bernadotte that it was 
a good opportunity for recovering Finland—so long 
possessed by Sweden ; for the ambitious aggressions of 
Bonaparte had now made him a new enemy in Alexan¬ 
der. It is supposed that, had the Emperor succeeded 




156 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


in effecting a new alliance, not only would his enemy 
have been unable to withdraw his troops, but would 
have been obliged to increase them, “ in order to pro¬ 
tect Finland, and even to cover St. Petersburg^” 

The Gulf of Finland, I may note, is the eastern 
arm of the Baltic, which runs up to the Russian 
capital. 

What was formerly a Swedish province, then, was, 
with a part of Lapland, ceded to Russia in 1809, the 
matter being finally settled by the famous peace* 
of 1814. Finland, I may state, for those who have 
no time to look at a map, lies north of the Gulf, and, 
with Sweden, a little more than a century ago, formed 
a kingdom one-third greater in extent than France, 
though vastly inferior in fertility and population. It 
extended from the fifty-fifth to the seventieth degree 
of north latitude. At the present day the natives on 
the coast are composed of Swedes and Russians. 
There is also a mixed Finnish race—the three varie¬ 
ties of race bearing some analogy to the existing 
relations between the Hindus and Mahomedans and 
Anglo-Indians of Hindustan. The life of a large 
portion of the Finns is said to resemble that of the 
agricultural Laplander, who inhabits the region to 
the north of the Scandinavian Peninsula, and who is 
said to be nearly related to the Finn on the south. 
The Laplander is an extraordinary animal, and so is 
the Finn. If we understand the one, we are sure to 
understand the other. The Lapps that are subject to 

* The Peace of Paris. 


TO HELSINGFOKS. 


157 


Sweden* are professed Christians, of the Lutheran 
persuasion ; but, in superstitious observances, they are 
nearly as bad as the Hindus. The Swedes, also, gave 
the Lutheran form to the Finns. The chief wealth 
of the Laplander, every schoolboy knows, is the rein¬ 
deer. This valuable animal is continually appearing 
in the child’s picture-book. Every graphic traveller 
in the North has expended his eloquence upon him; 
and even a sweet poetess (Mrs. Hemans) has sung 
his praise in spirited verse. One would think that 
love could hardly dwell in the Laplander; however, in 
his address to the reindeer, we are told that— 

“ When love gave the word, o’er the landscape of snow, 

We flew like the wings of the wind! 

In this ice-covered region, his sunbeam may glow, 

To melt and to soften the mind! ” 

Instead of stopping at Abo, I wish we could have 
gone up the Gulf of Bothnia into Lapland,f where, in 
some parts, the sun is absent for many weeks, the 
moon and stars alone being visible. This occurs in 
the winter ; and in the summer the sun does not set 
for as long a time. The “ Coast of Greenland,” in 
the same latitude, news of the Pole Star, and “Mid¬ 
night-day,” form noble subjects in an interesting work} 

* The Norwegian part of Lapland (before called Danish) was 
ceded to Sweden. 

f Tornea, to the north of the Gulf, belonging to Sweden, has a 
good harbour. 

j < The World of Ice,’ by B. M. Ballantyne, Esq., chap. v. Some 
admirable papers by this author, under the head Nvrwegiana, appeared 

in the Scotsman. 


158 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


I have just been reading. A change coming over the 
aspect of nature ; the “ long-continued daylight, which 
now lasted the whole night round, and increased in 
intensity every day as the travellers advanced north.” 
Like them, I had only heard and read of it, but “ their 
minds had utterly failed to form a correct conception 
of the exquisite calmness and the beauty of the mid¬ 
night-day of the north. ” I longed to see the Aurora 
Borealis in all its glory. The Finns and Lapps are of 
the Mongolian variety—in the whole European family 
the only exceptions to the Caucasian race ! The 
Finns and Lapps, although equally diminutive in 
stature, and like in many respects, are yet held to be 
of a different origin. The ancient Finns were fierce 
and poor; the modern Finn, as well as the modern 
Lapp, is honest, laborious, thriving, and hospitable. 
The hair of the Finn is yellow, flaxen, or fair, quite 
unlike that of the smooth, black-haired Lapp. The 
true domestic Finn lives with all his family in one 
small room, and there is a hole at the top of the small 
house to let out the smoke. The manner of domestic 
life and the hut among the Lapps is just the same. 
Of course, on arrival in Finland, many travellers have 
vague ideas about rustic householders, provided with 
many tools and implements of many arts and profes¬ 
sions ; each Finn performing for himself, with equal 
address, the parts of carpenter, shoemaker, tailor, 
fisherman, miller, baker, &c. But I was destined to 
see nothing of the kind. For once I did not wish to 
encounter “Civilisation!” The Finnish cornmifls 


TO HELSINGFOUS. 


159 


are of simple form, “actuated” by sails of wooden 
planks ; and their mill-stones are shaped like the 

querne, or old Celtic machine for grinding with the 
hand.* 

Abo lies near the point where meet the Gulfs of 
Bothnia and Finland. The connection between the 
Finns and the kingdoms of the north is not generally 
understood. Before entering Abo it may be well to 
explain. Both Sweden and Norway were originally 
peopled by the Finns; the latter country also by the 
Lapps. These diminutive tribes were driven to the 
northern parts by the Goths. Boundaries were then 
assigned, and hence we have Finmark (Finland), the 
mark or boundary of the Finns, in the same manner 
'as Denmark, the mark or boundary of the Danes. 
Finland was lost to the Swedes in the reign of 
Gustavus the Fourth. Sveaborg (Sweaborg) the key 
to Helsingfors, which island fortress he too fondly 
deemed impregnable, surrendered to the Russians; 
and about this time he was very nearly losing Sweden. 
Fortunately, he was hurled from the throne before 
such a catastrophe took place. About this vain and 
foolish king I shall have a characteristic anecdote to 
relate hereafter. 

Our stay in Abo was very brief. Although the 
glory of this port has departed, it has still a consider¬ 
able inland and foreign trade.f A quaint-looking old 
cathedral, a few broad streets, some elegant mansions, 

* See ‘Manners and Customs,’ by J. Aspin. 

f Timber is largely exported from Abo. 


160 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


a splendid granite pier, on which people of many 
nations are selling their wares, and a few hard-working 
Finns rowing about in their skiffs, will probably be 
the chief objects of interest to the traveller who visits 
this ancient city, once the capital of Swedish Finland, 
and which afterwards flourished under the Russian 
government. Long famous for its university, which 
was rebuilt by the Russians ; famous also for the 
manufactures of linen, cotton, glass, paper, and other 
such commodities; the place was nearly destroyed 
by fire in 1827. The library and university, have 
since been transferred to Helsingfors, to reach which 
port the ‘ Furste Menschikoff ’ steamed out of harbour 
at three o’clock in the morning. One hundred and 
seventy miles of our voyage had now been completed. * 
At Abo a considerable addition had been made to the 
number of our passengers, and among them were several 
Russian officers, old and young, whose forage-caps 
with red band, added to the weighty grey great-coats, 
gave them a sort of martial appearance. They were 
all very silent, and seemed good-tempered gentlemanly 
fellows enough. Such were my first impressions of 
the Russians, of the respectable class, which it will 
be seen hereafter went on becoming more favourable, 
especially when the ladies took the field! 

We fully expected to reach Helsingfors in the 
afternoon, the distance being only 120 miles. 

The scenery in the Gulf of Finland is distinguished 
by the usual beautiful green islands, so common in 
the North, that you might almost imagine a number 


TO HELSINGFORS. 


161 


of countries broken up into small pieces and set in 
the sea for ornament, there being no longer use for 

them. At length we rounded Sweaborg, built on 
seven islands, the far-famed fortress which looked 
such terrible things, at the outbreak of the late 
Russian war ! 

Sweden, in the language of the country, is Swea- 
rike* the Kingdom of Swea, an ancient appella¬ 
tion, the origin of which is unknown. Sweaborg, 

then, simply means the town or fortress of Swea 
(Svea). 

Sweaborg seemed imposing enough from the sea; 
but there was nothing very terrible about it, as I had 
been led to believe. The days when Sir Charles 
Napier’s fleet was lying off had now some time passed 
away. The grand ordnance display of that period 
which made the fortress look so impregnable, consist¬ 
ing in many instances of wooden guns and wooden 
piles of shot painted over, to make up a show—a beg¬ 
garly account of empty boxes—not unlike the shop of 
Sliakspeare’s famed apothecary,! had nevertheless 
given way to real guns and real piles of shot, and 
workshops, and magazines, all showing a decided im¬ 
provement in materiel , and which seemed to say that 
if an enemy’s fleet once got in near Helsingfors, it 
could not easily get out again. 

Sweaborg has been appropriately styled the Cron- 


* Sveriga is strictly correct—there being no w in the Swedish. 
Norway (Northern Way ) is Norge. Osterland signifies the East, 
f ‘ Romeo and Juliet.’ 


M 



162 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


staclt of the Finnish capital. Other fortified islands 
are passed to approach the town, which is handsome, 
and striking from the sea; and we found ourselves at 
anchor in the capacious harbour before the sun w T ent 
down. The principal hotels are on the beach; and 
here was the first difficulty we had met since leaving 
home. On going to “ the first,” which had been 
highly recommended, a stout old lady, who seemed to 
be not quite sure of our appearance, backed up by 
other suspicious Northern Amazons, informed us that 
they were “quite full.” Off, then, we set, along the 
street, and round the corner, to the Hotel de Russe, 
and got a very small room, with one bed only, and a 
sofa. It was Sunday night; the smell of smoke and 
noise of billiard playing did not prevent our sleeping 
soundly in the space allotted to us ; and so, with a 
Russian guard not far off, we continued to slumber 
till early next morning. The first thing I discovered 
on opening the door, and searching in vain for a do¬ 
mestic, was that the office of the English Consul was 
at the end of the passage. The idea of being near a 
British Consul always brings relief and comfort to the 
anxious traveller’s mind. Such words as “justice,” 
“redress,” “security,” at the very thought of even 
being near the office of such a functionary (how¬ 
ever far he may be away), seize hold of the mind 
instanter. 

A walk along the magnificent and spacious pier 
before breakfast, early market sales going on, a large 
array of shipping, all the business of a busy world 


HELSINGFORS. 


163 


already commenced, gave us at once a favourable idea 
of the town or “ city ” of Helsingfors. 

Having duly prepared ourselves for a regular visit¬ 
ing and sight-seeing campaign, we set off on our 
travels through the town, halting in the first instance 
before ‘Nicholai I.,’ a splendid screw steamer, about to 
leave for Revel. This is a well-known town and go¬ 
vernment of the Russian Empire, called also Estlionia; 
and to reach it is only a six hours’ passage across the 
Gulf of Finland. 

I never saw a large steamer depart with less noise ; 
and the captain seemed to steer her out of the large 
harbour with as much ease as if she had been a tiny 
skiff. The ‘ Victoria,’ for St. Petersburgh, next at¬ 
tracted our attention. Going on board, we were most 
courteously received by the commander, who at once 

showed us all over the fine vessel, in which we resolved 

• 

to take our passage. The ‘ Victoria,’ I understood, 
had been built by the British Government as a present 
to the Emperor of • Russia; but, having met with a 
disaster on her voyage to the North, had been pur¬ 
chased by the Steam Shipping Company* at Helsing¬ 
fors. The ‘Victoria’ was a paddle, and very fast; 
but the ‘ Alexander ’ and ‘ Nicholai,’ screw steamers, 
were the fastest in these parts of the world. 

What a mighty change in steam navigation since 

• 

* Cronstadt Steam-boat Company. At the office I learned that the 
‘ Victoria’ was an iron steam-ship, of 416 tons—length 195 feet 10 inches, 
and breadth 21 feet 7 inches; depth, 10 feet. Built by ,7. Mare and Co., 
of Blackwall; designed by Mr. Waterman, jun., and fitted with engines 
of 140-horse power, by the Bennies. 

M 2 


164 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


the illustrious Scotchman, Patrick Miller, of Dal- 
swinton, first struck out the idea of constructing a 
boat with paddles, moved by steam power (one of the 
greatest inventions of the last century), and which was 
successfully tried on Dalswinton Lake (1787), and 
afterwards on the Forth and Clyde Canal, the pace 
obtained being seven miles an hour. In nothing so 
much as in the progress of steam power do we see the 
force of the poet’s truthful remark— 

“ Toil builds on toil, and age on age improves! ” 

I imagine that General De Berg must have been 
Governor-General of Finland on our arrival in Finnish 
territory. Had he been at Helsingfors, we might have 
paid our respects to that high functionary, who, 
doubtless, would have given us a kind reception. 
However, being proud of an acquaintance with the 

Swedish Consul-General, D-, we lost no time in 

repairing to the mansion of this enlightened and hos¬ 
pitable Swede, who received us, as.he might have done 
his own brothers, from his own glorious land. He 
first invited us to take a stroll with him through Hel¬ 
singfors, a clean and well-built town, with good roads, 
many elegant buildings, and shops in endless variety. 
The best view of the city is that which takes in the 
island fortresses, the harbour, and the line of houses 
on the spacious beach,—the foreground being formed 
of small buildings on the opposite side of the water ; 
and then, looking to the rear of the principal 
beach, to the left, the domes and turrets of the city, 




f 


HELSINGFORS. 


165 


chief among them that of the church, built on an 
eminence, and approached by an extensive flight of 
steps, rise to view; numerous buildings to the right 
and left of this temple, and hilly country in the dis¬ 
tance, complete the accessories of a very interesting 
picture.* 

Returning to "the elegant mansion of the Consul- 
General, he ordered out his carriage, and drove us 
first to see a well-built spacious Caserne Russe , capable 
of holding, without the least fear of crowding or want 
of ventilation, three regiments of infantry. The gar¬ 
rison of this portion of Finland I understood was about 
five thousand men. But the officers, as well as the 
country, were considered poor. However, poverty 
among the superior officers was, of course, an excep¬ 
tion, as I may have occasion to remark hereafter. I 
observed in Helsingfors at least one General dashing 
past in an elegant conveyance. 

The Russian soldier, as many are not aware, salutes 
his officer by taking off his hat. This manner of sa¬ 
lutation seems respectful enough, but I question if it 
is so martial-like as sweeping the arm well round 
towards the peak of the cap, and looking towards the 
superior with eyes right or left, as a now-departed 
drill corporal in India used to inform me was the right 
way in days of yore. We next drove along the sea- 
coast, when we had some beautiful views of the 
islands, especially of Sweaborg; concluding a most 

* A capital view of Helsingfors forms the frontispiece of the second 
volume of ‘ Letters from the Shores of the Baltic.’ 


166 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


delightful drive by entering the Tivoli Gardens, 
where a dinner had been ordered for us by our 
friend the Consul-General. The British Consul, Mr. 

C-, had been invited to meet us; and I had thus 

the opportunity of dining with one of the most enter¬ 
taining men I ever met in my life. A naval officer 
who had seen much service during the Russian war; 
a capital linguist, possessing a mind stored with many * 
incidents and anecdotes, and lively and good-humoured 
withal, is not a bad companion for any reasonable man 
while employed in that vastly-important occupation of 
life, eating his dinner. 

During our excellent Swedish repast, he entertained 
us with an anecdote of Gustavus the Fourth, the vain 
monarch already alluded to as having lost Finland, 
and nearly ruined Sweden. 

On one occasion Gustavus ascended a high tower, 
accompanied by some of his principal courtiers. Halting 
at a stage before reaching the summit, the King asked 
a shrewd lord-in-waiting if, for the promise of the 
highest honours Sweden could bestow on his surviving 
the shock, he would cast himself down from the emi¬ 
nence on which they were standing. The courtier 
politely declined the honour of breaking his neck, 
even to please a king. 

The Royal party soon reached the summit of 
the tower. Gustavus now remarked, surveying the 
scenery below, “ Is not this just the sort of place 
from which we might imagine the Devil tempted our 
Lord ? “ No ! ” replied the shrewd courtier, who 



THE RUSSIAN WAR. 


167 


had been addressed by the King, “ a little lower 
down, your Majesty!” Mr. C- had been so¬ 

licited by the Grand Duke Constantine to encourage 
yachting and boating at Helsingfors. We talked 
about Sweaborg, at the bombardment of which the 
Consul had served in August, 1855. He had also 
been the bearer of the flag of truce at the surrender 
of Bomarsund, and was employed on a similar errand 
after the massacre at Hango Head. He had thus 
nobly won the Baltic medal of the Royal Navy. I 
believe that, had Sweaborg been vigorously attacked, 
it would have surrendered at once. In three hours, 
Sir Charles Napier might have had his ships in the 
harbour, where there are from sixteen to eighteen 
fathoms of water. But some assert that neither the 
English nor the French wished to take or destroy 
Helsingfors. Many of the guns of Sweaborg were, 
as I have said before, a sheer mockery. I have never 
to this day been able to understand the apparent 
want of resolution, or want of decision of character , 
which distinguished naval operations during the Rus¬ 
sian war. I do not mean by this that we should have 
held Sweaborg, but surely every Englishman will ad¬ 
mit that, in these naval tactics, we lost “ the name of 
action !” The management of the military operations 
and the commissariat will ever remain, at least to some, 
quite unintelligible. But all the misfortunes we met, 
will, in the event of war with any other country, 
serve as beacons to warn us off the rocks on which 
we then nearly split—with the fullest treasury and 




168 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


the best figliting men on earth—chiefly those of ig¬ 
norance , want of fertility in resource , and want of sys¬ 
tem —thus facilitating our progress out of any “ sea 
of troubles ” in a manner more than ever before 
creditable to the old naval and military glory of Great 
Britain. 

At the outbreak of the Russian war, it is well 
known that the Czar Nicholas wished to gain the 
support of Denmark and Sweden. But it would not 
do; they would not act against us ; and so he lost the 
assistance of the skilful “Janitors of his Northern 
dominions.” When King Oscar refused, the Czar 
replied indignantly, “ Look , then, well to your own 
interests He did look well to them ; and I agree 
with a popular writer, “ that he would have looked to 
them even better, if, instead of refusing to act with 
Russia, he had resolved to act against her.” There 
can be no better political position for the two great 
Scandinavian monarchies than that of our ally, in the 
event of any European, or perhaps American war 
threatening to destroy the peace of the British Isles, 
which is tantamount to destroying the peace of the 
civilized world. 

After a visit, by steam-boat, to Sweaborg, the 
traveller may enjoy some beautiful scenery by steer¬ 
ing for the Scheeren (Scissars), a chasm of sea where 
there are many isles with green foliage down to the 
water’s edge, on which “ sunny spots ” the pleasure 
seekers of Helsingfors sometimes land and enjoy 
themselves. But we had no time “ to bear off 


THE RUSSIAN WAR. 


169 


a leaf” from these fairy isles.* At an excellent 
fruit and cloth market near the harbour, the stranger 
in this city may observe a pleasing variety of cha¬ 
racter. The population of Helsingfors is between 
18,000 and 20,000; and Russia has certainly done 
much towards its increase and prosperity in a brief 
space of time. It is a favourite bathing resort for the 
fashionable world who come from Revel, but chiefly 
from St. Petersburg!!, to benefit by the excellent baths 
of every kind, as well as by the change of air. The 
Emperor pays an occasional visit to the Finnish 
capital; but the authorities here are very jealous of 
any interference with the local administration of 
justice. A plain, extensive mansion, near our hotel, 
was pointed out to us as the residence of the Czar 
during his stay in Helsingfors. Near this building 
there is a monument, erected in honour of the Em¬ 
press of Russia, to commemorate her first visit to 
Finland, which she made on her return from Sweden 
in 1829. When the water comes over the granite 
steps of the pier, it is a sign of a storm somewhere 
near Helsingfors. Clouds lowering, and this event 
taking place, put pedestrians as well as craft on their 
guard. Thus, even in a tideless sea, may wind bring 
on high tide. At Carlscrona, in Sweden, an artificial 
rise and fall of water, it is said, remedies the want 
of the ebb and flow of the tide. I am not aware of 
any such means for such a purpose being required 


* Sec ‘ Letters from the Baltic/ vol. ii. p. 79. 


170 


NOETHEEN EUEOPE. 


at Helsingfors, which has a magnificent harbour, and 
where some of our British ships would have reposed 
gracefully, previous to an onward move with light 
steamers (had we possessed them), during the late 
Russian war. 


171 


% 


4 


VIL 

CRONSTADT—ST. PETERSBURG!!. 

The evening before onr departure for St. Petersburgh 
was enlivened by the attractive company of the 
Swedish Consul-General, who took us to the promenade 
that we might see the beautiful and the lively among 
the ladies and officers of the Finnish capital.* There 
was music, everywhere welcome; there were people 
from many lands—fair Swedes, “ grave ” Danes, and 
“ fierce ” Russians, but nothing particular for me to 
observe. The handsome new theatre, the Observa¬ 
tory, and the Botanic Garden, are, with the promenade , 
^among the chief attractions of Helsingfors. We had 
dined in, and admired the beauties of, the Tivoli 
Gardens, and being so well pleased, were now loth to 
depart. Our kind friend accompanied us to the 
4 Victoria/ which was to start early next morning ; and 


* By advices received at Stockholm, December 17th (1861), the 
city of Helsingfors had been illuminated, and its people had been in 
unusual holiday humour. General Rokascorosky, the new Governor- 
General, had officially declared that the Emperor of Russia intended 
to convoke the Diet of the province (Finland) at an early date. Cen¬ 
sorship was to be abolished. What seemed to be the fest appearance 
of despotism in its decline, was beginning even in Finland. 


172 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


he gave us the benefit of his advice on several* impor¬ 
tant points, not the least of which was, on entering 
Russia, to beware of thieves ! Les voleurs formed the 
enemy against whom we were to make war : “ Abas les 
voleurs !” was to be our battle-cry. There are only tw'o 
classes in Russia, or rather two ranks, the highest and 
the lowest; and I fully believe that noble and peasant 
alike may he found among les voleurs . Probably this is 
the case in other countries besides Russia, the thing 
altogether depending on the power of conscience and 
the extent of principle wherever we may roam. 
Writers on Civilisation know well that the breach of 
the eighth commandment appears most in countries 
where oppression, exaction, and social tyranny exist. 
Generally speaking in Protestant countries we find the 
least stealing and falsehood; next to these rank the 
Roman Catholic countries ; and then come the nations 
whose rank and offensive idolatry, of ages long passed 
away, still pollutes the superstructure of what seems 
to be a better faith. The lower classes of Russians, 
who of course adore their national religion, the Greek 
Church, are strong examples of the latter class; but 
yet I do not believe that even these pecheurs 
are so bad as some Asiatics of my acquaintance ! 
The higher ranks in Russia, and it may be some¬ 
where else, do not steal—they simply appropriate 
in an indirect manner, sometimes, the property of 
others ! 

Well, to believe all we have read and heard, it 
seemed as if we were now starting for a country, 





TO CRONSTADT. 


173 


» 


crammed full of “ Peachums,” every one sing¬ 
ing— 

“ The priest calls the lawyer a cheat, 

The lawyer beknaves the divine ; 

And the statesman, because he’s so great, 

Thinks his trade as honest as mine! ”* 

Thus, before touching purely Russian ground, did 1 
become convinced that the Emperor Alexander had 
robbers of every degree in his dominions, about whom 
and their pilferings, as I afterwards discovered, he 
knew very little. 

We were told that living in St. Petersburgh was 
excessively dear. This I fully believed; so, to take 
every precaution against roguery or exorbitant prices, 
was absolutely necessary. The fear of not having a 
shilling left during a pleasure tour is one of the 
greatest plagues of life ! 

A story about a Russian noble running off with 
and appropriating another gentleman’s hat has amused 
me not a little. The hat, on being discovered, was 
found altered into the new form of a jockey’s cap, 
“with a view to conceal the theft!” Dr. Clarke, the 
celebrated traveller, relates this story, and I really 
heard one very like it at Helsingfors, as if the “mis¬ 
appropriation ” of hats was of daily occurrence in the 
land of the Czar. But even in England we sometimes 
have an instance of a “monomania for theft of a 
romantic character !” As to that other species of 

* ‘ Beggar’s Opera.’ The characteristics of Sir Robert Walpole’s 
age! 


174 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


stealing, exorbitant charges, Sir Robert Ker Porter 
(a well-known traveller in Russia) mentions that on 
one occasion the barouche in which he and his party 
were riding, having broken down, an exorbitant 
demand was made by a mechanic who repaired it. 
Sir Robert remonstrated. Plis Russian servant came 
up, and learning that his master wanted to beat down 
the man, exclaimed, “ Oh ! I’ll beat him down !” and 
catching the poor wretch by the beard, beat him 
heartily about the shoulders with a bludgeon, and 
made the “miscreant” reduce the charge from thirty 
rubles to two, “ which,” it is said, “ he accepted with 
a bow, and actually returned thanks to his chas¬ 
tiser for the discipline inflicted upon him !” Such 
are the old stories of travellers which have delighted 
our youth. 

But, with many faults, I was quite aware that the 
Russians are distinguished by hospitality, affection in 
their families, courage, good humour, and other excel¬ 
lent qualities, some of which we hoped soon to ob¬ 
serve, as the ‘ Victoria ’ dashed out of harbour, on her 
voyage to Cronstadt and St. Petersburgh. Pleasant 
companions are the life and soul of travel. We were 
most fortunate in having our temporary lot cast among 
a pleasant and entertaining set of passengers. I do 
not believe that any steamer in the North was ever 
more favoured in this respect than we were ; and now, 
to make the most of such a select society was an 
imperative duty. Variety, in the case of the 
‘Victoria,’ was truly charming. To begin with the 


TO CRONSTADT. 


175 


Captain (as in duty bound), it did not require a 
Lavater to read good humour with decision in his 
jovial and manly countenance. Careful, silent, civil 
under all circumstances,—to the youngster who asked 
a foolish question,—to the culprit who hid the man at 
the helm from his view while he was on the “bridge” 
piloting us through a difficult passage,—“ a little to 
the left, if you please; ” to all, the plain gentleman 
sailor, and yet to this day I know not whether he 
claimed kindred with the Slavonic tribes, or the Goths, 
or Germans ; one thing I am sure of, he was not a 
Celt. And there was a dignity about this stalwart 
Capudan (Captain) Badshaw withal, quite becoming, 
and which would have suited the high admiral of a 
steam-fleet cruising between Helsingfors and St. 
Petersburgh. 

A remarkably sweet-looking lady of rank, from a 
root composed of the Slavonic and the German; a 
Finnish Baroness, who had visited London and Paris, 
and who conversed with me at dinner—frank, lively, 
and agreeable; a Russian Princess, dark, Bohemian¬ 
like, witty, intelligent, and who could talk English 
before she was twelve years of age ; her sister-in-law, 
one of the most pleasant talkers I ever listened to, who 
seemed to adore children, who informed us that her 
father was a General in the Caucasus, her husband (a 
General on the Emperor’s Staff) being at St. Peters¬ 
burgh ; a Russian officer, in the Hydrographic Depart¬ 
ment of the Admiralty, who liked the British, knew 
nearly a dozen languages, and could converse on any 





176 


NOBTHERN EUKOPE. 


subject; a Councillor, “ full of wise saws and modern 
instances;” a young naval officer or two, who let us 
into the “ mysteries 55 of the Russian navy ; a member 
of the Cadet Corps, fresh in military matters, but ripen¬ 
ing for “ business” in good time; and, last of all, I 
shall mention a Jew—Polish, if I recollect right—w T ith 
a most disinheriting countenance, and an extra five per 
cent, marked on it, who was very attentive to his 
meals, and very silent, amidst the brilliant society with 
which we were surrounded. I am not aware that our 
latter friend was a bad Jew ; but I can never look 
upon a Shylock, without thinking of his “ bond ;” 
and how forcibly is it said in Scripture that he is “ an 
astonishment, a proverb, and a byword;”* “removed 
into all the kingdoms of the earth to be a reproach 
and a proverb, a taunt and a curse !”f Such were 
a few of the passengers in the good ship ‘ Victoria.’ 
Our course lay through beautiful islands, along the 
coast. 

By the afternoon, we had passed Louisa and Frede- 
ricksham; the latter town distinguished as that where 
the famous treaty was signed, ceding Finland to Russia, 
in 1809. 

At Fredericksham we took in the crew of the 
‘ Leonidas’ steamer of Hartlepool, bound for London. 
She had been wrecked on Narva island, a little below 
where we now were. I believe the captain mistook the 
beacon ; and we left him behind to get off some pro¬ 
perty from the wreck. These shipwrecks in the North 

* Deuteronomy xxviii. 37. f Jeremiah xxiv. 9. 


TO CRONSTADT. 


177 


are of too frequent occurrence. Shortly before the 
present catastrophe, the ‘ Baltic’ bad been lost, to the 
south of the Gulf of Finland. Mistaking rocks for 
fishermen’s boats, and running steamers on the said 
rocks, is indeed a dangerous game to play at. While 
revising these Notes I learned that, since October last 
year (I860),* the loss of another screw-steamer, if 
report be correct, makes the seventeenth Baltic steam- 
vessel lost between Cronstadt and London ! There 
surely must be something “rotten in the state” of 
navigation here! Better to keep well out to sea 
than miss a beacon, and imperil lives through care¬ 
lessness ! 

Nearly twenty souls of the ‘ Leonidas,’ then, were 
to accompany us to Cronstadt, which they had only 
left the day before the disaster. 

The Finlanders, like some fishermen on the French 
coast, take advantage of a wreck, and seek every op¬ 
portunity for plunder. Among the new arrivals was 
an experienced master, of twenty years’ service, who 
had come out in the 4 Leonidas’ to superintend her 
unloading at St. Petersburgh. He had made many 
voyages in the Baltic sea, and appeared to be a very 
excellent specimen of the true British sailor. His con¬ 
versation had a dash of humour about it. When the 
vessel struck (he was in his cabin), rushing forth with 
his little wardrobe, he was soon among the others 
anxious to make a landing ; and no sooner had the 
“terror-struck” crew (some without a shirt to their 

* To December 1, 1861. 

N 


178 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


backs) got on the rock, with little enough standing- 
room, than they all began a lively dispute—I am not 
sure if they did not get up a fight—to enliven the 
scene of disaster! There was something thoroughly 
British about this ; and it reminded me of a scene after 
the capture of Rangoon, when, during the heat of a 
burning sun, I was superintending the burial of an artil¬ 
leryman by the side of the road, the comrades of the 
departed, who were engaged in digging or rather, with 
the pickaxe, cutting out his grave, began to dispute in 
strong terms, quite at variance with the solemnity of 
the ceremony, and which wrangle was put an end to 
with some difficulty! 

Late in the afternoon, we were approaching Viborg. 
Conversing with the Russian officer, of so many “ ac¬ 
quirements,” I learned that the Russian soldier was 
good; the officers were not so worthy of commenda¬ 
tion. Bureaucracy was the ruin of Russia. Many in 
power who knew nothing, dictated to those who did 
know all about the matter. An Englishman carries 
his nationality along with him in his pocket. An Eng¬ 
lish Consul must give his countryman justice, or a full 
hearing. A Russian one only seeks to please the 
Emperor. It is the e'tat c'est moi system throughout. 
Denmark will yet be the sore part of politics inNorthern 
Europe. We (England) must have the Baltic. The 
Schleswig-Holstein question is the grand difficulty at 
present. While the Germans were trying to bring 
about the settlement of this question, the French might 
take the Rhine ! 



TO CKONSTADT. 


179 


I did not enter on the subject of Denmark, Nor¬ 
way, Sweden, and England, forming the grand alliance 
against Russia, if required, and all other foes on earth 
—our gaining materiel in men and stores from those 
countries to assist us, while the extent of our empire 
was too great for our home population, and other like 
topics; but, on the whole, I found my friend an en¬ 
lightened and liberal Russian, and was grieved to think 
that we had ever gone to war with his nation—a war 
which gained us little or no additional glory, which 
seemed as if got up to show (what we knew before) 
how admirably the aristocracy could fight, and how 
lamentable were our deficiencies in the conduct of a 
great campaign. In the event of another war, with all 
our experiences, may the star of our military glory 
shine steadily as lord of the ascendant! 

About 7 p.m. we were off Viborg. The old cathe¬ 
dral, built about the twelfth century, a colossal brick 
pile, telling many a tale of ruin and desolation, first 
came in view. This is a flourishing port; and here 
we first had an opportunity of beholding the famed 
Russian droschky, with its intrepid driver, and fast, 
small horse, which dashed across a wooden bridge 
of immense length at a pace which I am convinced 
only Finnish and Russian horses can attain. Drosch- 
kies seemed to fly, here, there, and everywhere, at 
railroad pace. 

The population of this once celebrated fortified 
city of Finland is about 5000. The Russian soldier, 
in his everlasting great-coat, buttoned straight down 

n 2 


180 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


the front, with red collar and cuffs, wandering to and 
fro, and some excellent shops (particularly the apo¬ 
thecary’s), were all that attracted my further attention 
at Viborg, which, after a meal chiefly consisting oi the 
excellent bread for which this town is famous, w T e left 
at an early hour next morning. 

Conversing with a Russian naval officer, I was 
informed that, on board of the Russian ships, there 
are Tartars, who make excellent sailors. They are of 
course Mussulmen, and will not eat the pork served 
out. Salt pork and Islam, even in Russia, are not 
yet brought in contact. The Jews make excellent 
stokers for the steamers. Then there are the Russian 
sailors of the Greek Church, who have their own 
prejudices ; so, with such confusion of creed, to main¬ 
tain discipline during the serving out of provisions, 
and on other important occasions, is no easy matter. 
The officers, among other beverages, drink brandy 
and water, and indulge in coffee to a considerable 
extent. The sailors of the Russian navy get liberal 
rations, wholesome biscuit, and a strong essence of 
meat with potatoes, being among the chief articles of 
consumption. Tea is much consumed in Russia. I 
spoke about the Amoor, but the information I gained 
was far from satisfactory. Of course I did not be¬ 
lieve what I was told that it would be of no use to the 
ever grasping Czar. Every river, every stream, every 
oasis in a desert, is of use in the extension of an 
empire. 

No one is more aware of this fact than the subtle 


TO CRONSTADT. 


181 


Russian politician. If we are to believe the official re¬ 
port of a United States of America commercial agent, 
the Amoor is a river second only to the Mississippi. 
This traveller explored it, testing the practicability of 
its navigation. Proceeding by way of St. Petersburgh, 
he obtained permission of the Russian Government to 
enter the Amoor country. During his land journey 
across Europe and Asia, an opportunity was afforded 
him of witnessing the great inland trade of Russia, 
concentrating at Nijne Novogorod in Europe and 
Kyachta in Asia, and of tracing this line of commerce 
from the Baltic to the Pacific Ocean. Proceeding 
early in the spring of 1856, via England and Den¬ 
mark, to Cronstadt and St. Petersburgh, he passed 
overland from the modern Russian capital to the 
headwaters of the Amoor, “ and then in a small boat, 
with oars, and five Cossack soldiers furnished him by 
General Mouravieff, the Governor-General of Eastern 
Siberia, proceeded down the three rivers Ingodah, 
Schilkah, and Amoor, to the ocean.”* The fearless 
traveller having arrived at Irkoutsk, the capital of 
Eastern Siberia, he found himself 4000 miles east of 
St. Petersburgh. 

At the former capital he was hospitably enter¬ 
tained by Mouravieff; and now the cities of Kyachta 
and Mai-mat-Tschin were to be visited. These places, 
by treaty between Russia and China, are the only 

points where commerce can be conducted by the 
people of the two empires. They are 1000 miles 

* ‘ Official Report.’ 


182 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


north-east of Pekin, on the frontier of Mongolia and 
Siberia. In spring the agent crossed the Stanvey 
Mountains, and arrived at the headwaters of the 
Amoor. Navigation not having yet been opened, he 
explored the gold and silver country of Nerchinsk* 
—a country said to be rich in silver and gold. 

He next proceeded on his downward course to the 
sea. Much of the country along the Amoor is sus¬ 
ceptible of farming and grazing ; and the great prob¬ 
lem as to the navigability of the river is now fully 
solved. Mr. Collins states, that “ steamers can ascend 
from the sea to the Chetab, a distance of 2600 
miles, which great fact opens up Siberia to our 
(America?s) Pacific commerce through the Amoor.” 

After such facts, let us hear no more of the 
Amoor being of no consequence to Russia. Such an 
opinion is, like some other matters of a like nature, a 
political delusion, most deadly to our imperial pro¬ 
gress. Wherever, throughout the world, a nation 
plants one acre, or finds an ounce of gold or silver, 
is a blow aimed at the colonial power of Great Britain! 

While writing these Notes, three Russian vessels 
of warf are lying in the river at Gravesend, all armed 
with guns of large calibre, and bound for the Amoor; 
and I am glad to observe that the courtesy and kind¬ 
ness of the Russian officers will leave a most favour¬ 
able impression. 

* The mines of which are worked by the convicts from European 
Russia. 

t 1 ut in for repairs all armed with 60-pounders, with long tra¬ 
versing pieces forward. 


TO CRONSTADT. 


183 


Conversation on board the ‘ Victoria’ is now be¬ 
coming more animated; dinner to-day is speedily got 
over; the ladies have mounted the steps of the bridge ; 
the lively Russian princess seems proud of her country, 
but yet has time to say a word on French literature ; 
the Russian officer is preparing to point great things 
out to us ; the Jew is evidently thinking of the state of 
the money market, and the depressing state of trade; 
the noble captain is preparing to navigate us through 
a forests of masts in his usual Chesterfield tone; we 
feel that the event of a life is soon to take place—for 
Cronstadt and St. Petersburg!! are near ! 

I might have employed time less usefully than in 
learning from my excellent companion, the “ Master,” 
that the Russian ruble (hewn-off bit of silver) was 
only worth thirty-three pence and a fifth. For the 
English sovereign we should receive seven rubles 
and thirteen copecks. One hundred silver copecks 
are equal to one silver ruble, sometimes worth three 
shillings and fourpence—one shilling being equal to 
thirty silver copecks. At Helsingfors we had ex¬ 
changed some sovereigns for Russian bank-notes; 
but we were recommended to keep our gold, as it was 
at a premium in St. Petersburg!!. It was sufficient to 
procure enough foreign money for the voyage ; al¬ 
though we never troubled ourselves about the old idea 
that the importation or exportation of Russian bank¬ 
notes was illegal, and liable to severe punishment. 

The “ Master ” informed me that he had brought 
1500 tons of cloth goods to St. Petersburgh. Bribery 



184 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


and corruption, I should say, flourish about the 
Russian ports and custom-houses; and I thought a 
good deal about what we were doomed to suffer from 
the officers connected with the latter, as, about two in 
the afternoon, we beheld from the paddle-bridge the 
celebrated fortress of Cronstadt, in the middle of the 
Gulf of Finland, just sufficiently above the sea to 
defend the entrance of the Neva and the approach to 
the imperial city of St. Petersburgh. It was a beau¬ 
tiful day ; and a clear arctic sky, with a bracing cool 
breeze, added to our delight on beholding the “ im¬ 
pregnable ” fortress of which I had for so many years 
heard so much, and which, while in India, I fully 
believed we would have attacked, when Sir Charles 
Napier ordered his “ lads ” to sharpen their cutlasses , 
as if preparatory to another immortal signal expecting 
“ every man to do his duty !” 

I could now imagine every Russian on board the 
‘ Victoria 5 looking at me with the awful question— 
“Why did you not attempt Cronstadt?” We had 
first come in sight of Toll Beacon, about twelve miles 
from the fortress, situated at the westernmost-point 
of Cronstadt island. The tall chimney of a large 
Government factory; a light-house vessel moored on 
a bank called “ London ChestPeterhofF,* beyond 
the right bank from Cronstadt, famed for its park and 
palace, where the nobility reside; the variety of the 
large and small craft on the river,—all betokened an 

* Twenty-five versts from St. Petersburgh. A verst is two-thirds 
of mi English mile. 


CRONSTADT. 


185 


approach to civilisation. From twenty feet of water 
we soon came into nine or ten feet, forming the bar 
between Cronstadt and St. Petersburgh. 

It is said that the guns of the fortress command 
both passages of the gulf; hut I thoroughly believe 
there is a good deal of exaggeration about the whole 
matter. A great deal is got up for the sake of ap¬ 
pearance ; and, although the guns of the Cronstadt 
batteries are genuine, terrible “ political persuaders” 
to look upon, still I cannot help thinking that a 
well-equipped fleet of small steamers, led by a deter¬ 
mined hand, could force this critical passage of the 
Neva ! 

The first stone battery, with its double tier of 
guns, is built on a sand-bank. The foundations and 
some of the works of Cronstadt are under water. 
The channel of deep water is marked out by a red 
and white flag. Three Russian men-of-war (three- 
deckers), carrying from one hundred to one hundred 
and thirty guns, now came in sight, and my surprise at 
such immense vessels being here was soon arrested by 
the consideration that all their guns would not be 
carried till below the bar. Among the “Leviathans 
afloat,” was a magnificent Russian steamer, which must 
have had a very considerable draft of water. We now 
gazed on seven chief granite batteries—Fort Alexan¬ 
der, casemated, and with its tiers of guns presenting 
an imposing appearance ; Fort Menschikoff, and others 
of lesser note,—all frowning savagely upon us, with 
iron glance, daring us to pass by. 



186 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


Everything, including wind from the west and 
plenty of water, being in our favour, we escaped lying 
at Cronstadt all night, with a guardship alongside; 
and so, after the indefatigable “Master,” who com¬ 
manded the shipwrecked crew (although he disowned 
them, insinuating that he would not “ march through 
Coventry ” with them), had seen his charge on board 
a boat which had been sent off by the Russian autho¬ 
rities on a requisition by telegraph—the jolly tars— 
engineer and cabin-boy, stoker and poker, scrambling 
in like so many wild creatures from foreign lands,—the 
‘Victoria/ without our having experienced the slight¬ 
est molestation from any parties whatever—police or 
custom-house officer—steamed away from Cronstadt. 

Surveying the men-of-war at this naval and com¬ 
mercial port—old hulks far more numerous than ships 
ready for service—may recall to the traveller’s mind 
what he has read about the depredations of Russian 
officials. The Russian navy, I may say, was “ the 
favourite creation ” of Peter the Great, and is said to 
have been neglected by all who followed him, until 
taken in hand by the late Emperor Nicholas. I 
believe that a more advantageous field for the mal¬ 
practices of officials than the Russian navy does not 
exist. The following anecdote will give some idea of 
how things used to be carried on in the far north, 
long before the dawn of the decline of despotism had 
begun to appear:—“The Emperor Nicholas, having 
been made acquainted, whilst Grand Duke, with the 
glaring malversations which took place in the naval 



CEONSTADT. 


187 


arsenals of Cronstadt, some time after his accession, 
suddenly sent down a commission, who placed the 
imperial seal on everything, and prepared to com¬ 
mence on the following day the labour of inquiry. 
That night the arsenals were destroyed by tire. But 
even the consuming element could not destroy the 
long accumulated evidence of fraud. On clearing the 
ruins, a number of cannon were discovered, which, on 
reading the inscription on them, were found to belong 
to a man-of-war which had been lost a short time 
before in the Gulf of Finland, and, as it had been 
reported, with all her guns and stores on board. It 
was therefore evident that her own officers had taken 
her out to sea for the purpose of sinking her, having 
previously left all the valuable part of her armament 
and provisions on shore for sale.* A badly paid 
service anywhere, military, naval, or judicial, tends 
more than anything else to the extension of fraud. 
Need we wonder, then, that such fraud is common 
in Russia ? The population of Cronstadt is about 
12,000, with vast additions, thousands of hands at a 
time, when the arsenals are busy. I imagine that any 
amount of labour can be immediately commanded 
and procured in Russia, which, although containing 
upwards of 63,000,000 of people, is, for its vast 
extent, not a populous country. The traveller should 
by all means put himself in a small steamer at St. 
Petersburgh, and take a brief trip to Cronstadt, which 


* 1 Eevelations of Eussia,’ vol. i. p. 120. 


188 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


contains a very mixed population. A recent lively 
and humorous traveller, # on arrival, says, “ The port 
was very thronged and lively, and I feasted my eyes 
upon some huge English steamers from Hull and other 
northern English ports. It did me good to see the 
union jack ; but where were the gun-boats, Mr. Bull ? 
Ah ! where were the gun-boats ? ” Cronstadt, the 
principal station of the imperial navy, is built on the 
site of the old fortress of Cronslot, about fifteen miles 
from St. Petersburgh. The immediate fortifications 
of the capital are yet inconsiderable. The short 
period that elapsed in 1854 between the withdrawal 
of the Baltic fleet and the setting in of the winter, 
was made use of by the Russians in removing five 
line-of-battle ships that had been stationed at Swea- 
borg, before the frost, to Cronstadt. A large part of 
the gun-boats, also, were sent from Sweaborg to Rot- 
shensalm. Talking with a Russian officer on the 
subject of plans, charts, and models, he was quite of 
opinion that his countrymen knew nothing about this 
business. Plans arrived from England under Russian 
patronage. We knew more about seas and tracks in 
the North than they did. I did not ask him if he had 
seen Mr. Wyld’s famous model of Cronstadt and the 
surrounding shores of the Gulf of Finland and the 
Baltic sea. I believe, as was remarked at the time, 
that the model was viewed with peculiar interest, 
especially the representation of the fortress, the adja- 


* George Augustus Sala, in a ‘Journey due North.’ 


CRONSTADT. 


189 


cent forts, and the granite blockade at the entrance of 
the harbour, which gave a clearer idea of the relative 
position and strength of this formidable protection to 
the capital of Russia than a map could ever attain. 

I have always been a great advocate for the use of 
models in preference to plans. At Nagpore we con¬ 
structed models of elephant harness (on a new prin¬ 
ciple), howitzers, with nevv device of moving tangent 
scale, and chevaux de frise, a supply of which in case 
of sudden rebellion I recommended should be kept in 
Indian arsenals. The native mechanic understands a 
model when he does not a plan. Some, from their 
fine eye and steady hand, are able to construct an 
excellent model of a fortress. What a mighty grim 
sentry was artillery at Cronstadt!—the commercial 
harbour with its thousand vessels, the canals, the mag¬ 
nificent granite quays, the shallow hay, the dockyards 
and arsenals, all looking to the thunder of the long 
range for protection. And now, turning from forts 
founded and partly built by Peter the Great, it is 
difficult to think that in two or three hours more we 
shall be residing in St. Petersburgh. To me, at 
least, it would be one of the grand achievements in a 
life. I thought of Calcutta, founded by Job Charnock, 
among sands and Bengal tigers,—of the founder of 
this first city in the most splendid dominion under the 
sun, hunted about like a wild beast with his brave 
little army,—of Clive who conquered, and of Warren 
Hastings who consolidated; but my thoughts were 
soon turned to their proper channel, to Peter and to 



190 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


Catherine. To the latter it was remarked by one of 
her favourites, when the Empress complained of the 
effects of the climate of St. Petersburg!! upon her 
health, “ It is not God who should be blamed, madame, 

- because men have persisted in building the capital of 
a great empire in a territory destined by nature to be 
the patrimony of wolves and bears !” 

We were all on the alert to catch the first view 
of the Imperial residence, founded by Czar Peter the 
Great, in 1703, in a low marshy spot of the river 
Neva, and continually liable to inundation at the 
“ sweet will ” of the westerly wind. I had a sort of 
feeling akin to that while approaching Calcutta—also 
a city of palaces—after three years’ service in Burmali. 
I was in pursuit of health now, as I had been then; 
and the sight of a grand capital was to be my first 
physician. Since leaving Helsingfors the mighty 
spirit of change had done its salutary work. I cannot 
say we saw anything “ melancholy” in the aspect of 
nature on our approach to St. Petersburgh. True 
enough, there is little variety or beauty about the 
scenery ; but various craft passing to and fro, added to 
the thought of speedy transition from grim Cronstadt 
below to a gay capital above, on a bright Russian day, 
with its “ bluish dimness ” and “ pale sun,” # drove all 
thought of melancholy from our minds. Travellers 
should have nothing to do with the pale phantom; 
his votaries should sit at home retired; and, had 
Burton travelled in the North, he, doubtless, would 

* Marquis de Custine’s ‘ Russia.’ 


ST. PETERSBURG!!. 


191 


have brought the practical wisdom of his own re¬ 
mark to bear on its expulsion —Be not solitary , be 
not idle * 

If a melancholy aspect, to some, does exist about 
the flat marshes of Ingria (a favourite province of 
Peter the Great, to the north-east of Livonia), it should 
vanish at Cronstadt; and the “monotonous reverie ” 
of the pilgrim should be entirely broken on beholding 
the gilded dome of the great cathedral of St. Isaac 
(Izak) flashing in the sunshine, and lending additional 
glory to the sky. 

“ The church of St. Isaac !” was the general 
exclamation on board the steamer. Elegant spires, 
graceful cupolas, reminding one of the East, and the 
dim shadows of gorgeous palaces, were nothing in 
comparison with the mighty dome of the chief temple 
of that Church, so dear to the Russian, and the tiara 
of which, the heritage of her old patriarchs, had been 
snatched from her at Moscow, amidst the curses of 
the nobility, by the great Peter, and placed beside the 
crown. 

To the Jew on board the name was, of course, 
familiar as a “ household word. 5 ’ But his was another 
faith, and his present god was money. Every one in 
the ‘ Victoria 5 had a word to say about the beauty of 
St. Isaac’s, and no more striking object than its lustrous 
dome could have welcomed us to the imperial city. 
On we went steering in, the Neva sadly deficient in the 
life and bustle of Father Thames, or even of the dark 

* Burton’s * Anatomy of Melancholy.’ 


192 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


flowing Hooghly ; we anchored nearly opposite the 
English quay, well into the city; the dream of a life 
was realized. The Custom-house officers gave us as 
little trouble as they had done at Helsingfors. No 
rude police, no insolent soldiery in piked helmet and 
the everlasting great coat, no officious comptrollers 
with impertinent questions came to alarm us ; all these 
merely floated around, like so many Glendoveers (good 
spirits), wishing to get rid of us as fast as possible. 

Was it a dream ? How travellers had exaggerated 
the penalties of the Custom-house ! Such reform was 
surely the doing of Alexander who would free the 
serfs from bondage ! A slight search on board, most 
civilly conducted; some extra chalking of mysterious 
hieroglyphics on our baggage in a small office on the 
quay; good-humoured, red-headed, and red-bearded 
droschky-drivers, with low-crowned hats, long blue 
coats, red Kummerbunds (waistbands), and the chief 
linen garment of man blowing about the tops of their 
huge boots, offering us a small vehicle with a tight 
little horse of no common blood; partings taken, and 
invitations given and accepted among the “ delight¬ 
ful’ ’ passengers,—most of them now to separate, per¬ 
haps for ever !—bright eyes looking here, there, and 
everywhere ; and now, last of all, at least two travel¬ 
lers are at rest in the noble Kaiser Hotel! The Czar 
Peter, to revenge himself on the independent spirit 
of the Muscovite aristocracy, had built St. Peters- 
burgh.* 


* Marquis de Custine. 


ST. PETERSBURG!!. 


193 


Czar, tlie title of the “ Great-King,” meaning also 
“ Chief,” was not in use until the sixteenth century. 
Up to that time the rulers of Russian provinces were 
called grand princes; Ivan the Second, in 1579, being 
the first who adopted the title of Czar.* The histori¬ 
cal origin of “ Czarism” has been well written. I 
shall, therefore, merely state (having said something 
about Moguls and Tartars elsewhere) that this insti¬ 
tution arose, with all its despotism, autocracy, and 
tyranny, during the epoch of Tartar dominion and 
aggression. From about the ninth or tenth century 
Russia was ruled over by a number of princes ( Kniazia ), 
all of whom acknowledged a high chief or Grand 
Duke, called Weliki Kniaz. From such principalities 
of feudal origin and their head, the transition to 
Czar, or Autocrat, was simple enough. Czarism now 
—in its original form at least—is in its decline. This 
has been brought about in quite an unexpected 
fashion. The poor serf, no longer able to behold his 
Emperor trampling on the kings, princes, and nations 
of Europe and Asia, thinks of his own liberty; enters 
boldly into the scheme for bringing it about; laughs 
at the despotic old nobility; and, looking to Alex¬ 
ander as the grand Liberator, “ glories in the glory of 
the Czar ! ” 

In this manner the Autocrat may still continue to 
be the grand embodiment of nearly the whole Russian 


* Czarina , Czdrish, Czarowitz —meaning respectively the Empress 
of Russia—pertaining to tlie Czar; the title of the eldest son of the 
Czar of Russia are the well-known derivatives. 


O 


194 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


nation. Znaj Rus Kago , “ Know the Russian! in 
many cases may yet be “ the general exclamation of 
content.”* 

The Czar, then, has long been a grand idea in 
European government; and when Peter the Great 
wrested Esthonia and Livonia from Charles the Twelfth 
of Sweden, the people of these provinces, we read, in 
a great measure, on account of the decline of the Han¬ 
seatic influence, were glad to be brought under the 
power of the Russian autocrat, who left them all their 
privileges; f and such like prudent measures were 
eventually extended to Finland. The power of the 
Napoleonic dictum—Gratez le Russe, et vous trouverez 
le Tartare —with czars as with subjects, has been gra¬ 
dually passing away. The Czar Nicholas (Nikolai), 
it is said, will appear in history as fatally precipitating 
into inevitable destruction the power embodied in his 
person. The Crimean war, we are told, killed this 
Emperor of all the Russias. His illustrious son, Alex¬ 
ander, was now, we understood, in the Crimea, on a tour 
of inspection. To the theatre bearing his (or rather his 
grandfather’s) name, for a stage view of Russian cha¬ 
racter, we resorted on the very evening of our arrival 
in St. Petersburgli. In Russia the theatre belongs to 
the Emperor, who uses it to foster and keep alive the 
military spirit of the empire. On the boards of the 
‘Alexander’ we hoped to see something of “the very age 

* See ‘ Russia and its People.’ By Count A. de Gurowski, chap. i. 

t Revel, the Esthonian capital, was granted the privileges of a 
Hanseatic Town, like Liibeck. 


ST. PETERSBURG!!. 


195 


and body of the time, its form and pressure ; ” and we 
were far from disappointed. To reach this home of 
the purely Russian drama, opening on the Nevsko’i 
Prospekt, we rattle along the tranquil Neva at a ter¬ 
rible pace (regardless of the magnificent buildings on 
our left till the morrow), cross the handsome bridge of 
stone and wrought-iron over the river, and soon the 
diminutive droschky halts before our destination. The 
exterior is imposing; we enter rapidly, and, of course, 
go to the wrong quarter to procure pass-checks or 
tickets. At length we are in the midst of a crowd 
before a window, still ticketless and incomprehensible. 
A Russian officer observing us proffers his assistance 
in the most civil and prompt manner; and, for rather 
more than we expected to pay (about three rubles), 
procured us two tickets for the stalls of the ‘Alexander.’ 
On entering this magnificent dramatic temple, the 
brilliant decorations, amidst a uniform blaze of light, 
exceeded our utmost expectations. About the size of 
the old Covent Garden Theatre, the ‘Alexander’ was 
certainly one of the most comfortable places of amuse¬ 
ment I ever sat in, besides actors, scenery, and music, all 
of the best description. A Russian military piece was 
to be performed: and the first scene we witnessed was 
that of an old “ mole,” seated on a bed, beside a pea¬ 
sant (probably his wife), in a state of great tribulation, 
and, judging from his piteous moans and forms of 
grief, likely to come to more. I presume he was the 
father of some hero who had gone to fight the battles 
of his country. The scene hereafter changed to the 

o 2 


196 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


return—the soldier’s return; and all, as usual, gave 
way to feasting, and love, and joy. 

While I am transcribing, # our brave troops are 
leaving for Canada, if not to engage in war, at least 
to strengthen our possessions in the Western world. 
The soldier’s dream—the sweet vision of home—the 
long wished for return—all come, in their own fashion, 
to the soldier of every country. The British soldier 
in India or in Canada, in peace or in war ; or the hardy 
Russian during unprofitable warfare in the Caucasus, 
ever dreams of, and is revived by the light of home ! 
This recalls to mind a little anecdote of the “ Lion 
King” of Sweden. 

In Charles the Twelfth’s memorable campaign of 
1709, before alluded to, when thousands were dying 
of cold, and dragoons and infantry were“without boots, 
shoes, or clothes, when artillery were nowhere, as the 
cannon had been thrown into the marshes and rivers 
for want of horses to draw them, the officers and 
soldiers of the army no longer received any advices 
from Sweden, nor were able to send any thither. Only 
one officer complained. “ What,” said the King to him, 
“ are you uneasy at being so far from your wife ? If 
you are a true soldier, I will lead you to such a distance, 
that you shall hardly be able to hear from Sweden once 
in three years !” 

The di ama we weie now witnessing seemed to 
portray in the most vivid manner the joy of the poor 


* December, 1861. 



ST. PETERSBURG!!. 


197 


soldier on his return after service, in some wild region, 
where, doubtless, the cheering letter had never arrived. 
Some picturesque scenes, including the passage of a 
number of troops over a bridge, followed by peasants 
in gay costumes, and dancing before the companies,* 
were succeeded by a festive picture truly Russian. 
The interior of a house of entertainment was disclosed ; 
and, at a table, sat a jovial throng of soldiers carousing, 
and talking of “ moving accident by flood and field.” 
Songs succeeded; and, at length, a superior vocal 
spirit entered, who sat down and led the festivities. A 
soldier next rose, wearing his favourite great-coat, and, 
proceeding to the corner of the room, took up a violin, 
which he caused to discourse the most exquisite music, 
his companions now. commencing a never-to-be-for¬ 
gotten Russian military air—all singing together in 
splendid time—to which he played the accompaniment 
in a style which, for facility and perfection of execu¬ 
tion, I have seldom if ever heard equalled. In the 
£ Alexander’ we were surrounded on all sides by officers 
in uniform (to whom the Emperor allows certain privi¬ 
leges of admission) which had a most brilliant effect. 
After a little more good acting, and excellent music, 
we left the theatre quite pleased with our visit—the 
Teniers-like scene of the soldiers and the inimitable 
soldier-fiddler, being the subject of conversation while 
we rapidly drove back to the Kaiser. St. Petersburgh 
has not inaptly been compared to a barrack. 

* This is thoroughly Russian. The companies halt, and a grotesque 
dance in front of the ranks, seems to have a most exhilarating effect 
on the wearied soldiery. 




198 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


The Cadet Corps—at least a portion of them— 
lodged very near us, in a splendid caserne; and about 
these interesting military juveniles — to whom the 
future military glory of Russia is entrusted—I heard 
an amusing story, which I fully believe to be true. 

All the fashion of the metropolis had assembled to 
witness the Corps of Cadets pass in review before the 
Emperor. The Grand Duke (Michael) was most 
anxious to exhibit the bravery and skill of his young 
troops to the best advantage; so, after the usual ma¬ 
noeuvres had been gone through, with an exactness 
which delighted the Autocrat and spectators, a charge 
of cavalry, to prove the strength of a Cadet square, was 
determined on. Of course, in such cases, as every 
volunteer knows, in peace-time, the cavalry gallop 
past the square, and do not charge at it. The scions 
of Russian heroism, however, expecting a more impres¬ 
sive mode of charge—I am not sure if the rapid squa¬ 
dron did not consist of the Circassian guard, on their 
superb Asiatic horses—when the enemy bore down, 
with flashing sabres, like lightning on the square, the 
Cadets, from “prepare to receive Cavalry,” rose to a 
boy, and ran off with a speed seldom witnessed even in 
the chequered annals of warfare ! 

There are nearly a dozen military schools in St. 
Petersburg!!. The late Emperor Nicholas was parti¬ 
cularly attached to the Cadet Corps. 

The Marquis de Custine describes an incident at a 
“ sentimental parade,” which took place at Peterhoff, 
which is highly characteristic of the model cadet ca- 




ST. PETERSBURG!!. 


199 


ressed by the sovereign. After some manoeuvres, the 
Emperor u took the hand of one of the youngest of the 
cadets, led him forth from the ranks to the Empress, 
and then, raising the child in his arms, to the height of 
his head, that is, above the head of everybody else, he 
kissed him publicly !”* 

Regarding .the institution of common schools for 
public instruction, the disclosure of Catherine the 
Great to a Prince of Moscow, that it was done for ap¬ 
pearance sake only,f is nearly as remarkable as the old 
and, perhaps, unfounded charge, which was formerly 
brought against the East India Company, in the matter 
of enlightening the masses in the East—particularly 
when the Empress asserts, that “ if our peasants should 
really seek to become enlightened, neither you nor I 
could continue in our places!” This was a strange 
saying by the Empress who ruled over an empire, the 
founder of which, in its greatly improved condition, in 
1703, actually edited, corrected the proofs, and took 
part in the publication of the first Russian newspaper ! 

And now let us take a ramble about this vast en¬ 
campment of lath and plaster, this vast city of colossal 
edifices, kept in continual repair by the ever busy hand 
of man. Perhaps it is true that only the St. Isaac’s 
cathedral, the Alexander column, and the granite quays 
of the Neva, “ would a century hence survive the ruins 
of St. Petersburgh, were it not for the intervention of 

* ‘ Russia,’ chap. xiii. 

f Catherine had instituted schools to please the French philoso¬ 
phers .—De Custine. 


200 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


man’s preserving hand.” However, I am not so sure 
about the Alexander column, which we shall visit in 
the course of our ramble. 

From our hotel, on the right bank of the Neva, 
we proceed along the magnificent strand, on which 
are built the Hotel des Mines , the Finland Barracks , 
the casernes for the first and second Corps of Cadets , 
and other noble mansions; then, arriving at the Isaac 
bridge, at the entrance of which there is a little tem¬ 
ple, with numerous devotees crossing themselves and 
praying before the painted treasures within, we cross 
over, and the tapering, golden spire of the Admiralty 
acts as a guide to lead us to that noble range of build¬ 
ings, beside the Russian quay, beside which, in Ad¬ 
miralty Square, or near it, are the chief architectural 
glories of St. Petersburgh, including the Winter Palace, 
Hermitage, statue of Peter the Great, Cathedral of 
St. Isaac, and the famous column of Alexander. 

Then the Regent Street of St. Petersburgh, 
Nevskoi Prospekt, extending in a straight line of 
three miles from Admiralty Square, and other well- 
known thoroughfares commencing and diverging from 
the same quarter, are also by no means difficult to 
find, when the traveller takes for the circle of his 
observation the golden spire for his centre. 

We first halt before the statue of Peter the Great, 
probably the best known statue in the world. Placed 
on its huge rock by the Empress Catherine, at the 
verge of which the enormous weighty charger seems 
to have arrived, quite impatient to dash forward ; the 


ST. PETEKSBUKGH. 


201 


horse in its daring attitude supported by an enormous 
serpent which he is represented as trampling beneath 
his feet— “ Petro Primo ; Catherina Secunda ” # — 
the simple inscription—Peter seems to be pointing 
with his hand to the Neva, as if he were saying, 
Behold my city ! 

The equestrian figure is said to be “a Roman,” of 
the period of Louis the Fifteenth, The iron tooth of 
time seemed already at work on this noble statue; 
and the railing round the small plot which contained 
it presented a neglected and shabby appearance. The 
huge mass of granite forming the rock (weighing 
several hundred tons) is broken in two or three 
places, and joined together by no very neat hand— 
not very complimentary to the memory of the ener¬ 
getic Peter who built the imperial city, and the har¬ 
bour of Cronstadt on the Neva, and that of St. Croix 
on the frontiers of Persia; who erected forts in the 
Ukraine and in Siberia; who established offices of 
Admiralty at Archangel, Astracan, Petersburgh, and 
Asoph; who founded arsenals, built and endowed 
hospitals; who, in fact, did so much that it would 
require a volume to record his actions; and who, 
after all, was obliged to confess to a magistrate of 
Amsterdam,—“ I reform my country, but am not able 
to reform myself! ”f 

Wonderful biography that of Peter—the “single 
man,” who reformed the greatest empire in the 
world—an empire which now extends along the 

* 1782. t ‘History of Charles tlie Twelfth,’ p. 35. 


202 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


shores of the Arctic ocean, through 199 degrees of 
longitude, equal to upwards of 7000 English miles, 
equal to the diameter of the world. The breadth of 
the European and Asiatic portion varies from 1900 
to 460 miles ; and then there are Russian possessions 
in the North-western extremity of America and else¬ 
where ; all giving an extent of territory to Russia 
hardly to be credited. 

At Novgorod—the ancient seat of a Slavonian 
republic, and the subsequent residence of Ruric, who 
founded the Russian power, and first assumed the 
title of Sovereign there, in 862—the one-thousandth 
birthday of the Russian empire, will soon be cele¬ 
brated. [In August, 1862.] With Ruric commences 
the history of Russia, which name is derived from the 
Scandinavian adventurers led by him, and who are 
known in the Byzantine history under the name of 
Varingians, who had the peculiar surname of Russes. 
These Varingians were the Scandinavian and Anglo- 
Saxon adventurers, who served as body-guards to the 
Emperors of Constantinople. The most probable 
origin of the name Russes, or Russians, in the opinion 
of a learned writer,* is, that it was derived from 
Ruots, or Ruts , the Finnish name for Sweden, and 
that the Slavonians adopted it from the Fins, who 
had lived between them and Sweden. Ruric, the 
Swede, or the Dane, or the Norwegian, it is not 
certain which, having arrived sword in hand among 
the Slavonians of Novgorod, founded a state in the 


* Count Krasinski. 


ST. PETERSBURG!!. 


203 


vicinity of the Baltic Sea, including dominion over 
several Finnish tribes, took for his capital Novgorod, 
and gave the new state the appellation of Russia , of 
which Moscow and St. Petersburgh were to be the 
celebrated capitals in after-ages. About the same 
time, the Christian religion was introduced among 
the Russians; but it was not till 976 that, through 
the instrumentality of the Greeks at Constantinople, 
Vladimir embraced the religion of the Greek Church, 
and fairly introduced the new faith among his sub¬ 
jects, originally Pagans. 

Turning from Ruric, the first monarch of Russia, 
to Peter, it may he interesting to note a few points in 
his wonderful career. He was born on the 10th of 
June, 1672. His father, Alexis, was the first sove¬ 
reign of Russia who made any endeavours towards 
civilizing his people ; and he was the son of Michael 
Romanoff, who had been elevated to the throne, in 
1613, by the common consent of the nobles. From 
this branch, the Romanoffs, or present reigning family 
of Russia, are descended. The military guards of the 
Czars of Muscovy* (as the empire was then styled) 
were a powerful body, named Strelitz, and amounted 
to 40,000 men. When Peter was a child, their ven¬ 
geance was particularly directed against the family of 
the Czarina, his mother. She fled with her little son 
to a considerable distance from Moscow, and took 
refuge in a convent. This sanctuary was not re¬ 
spected. Two of the Strelitz followed her, and 
* Ivan III. founded the Muscovite Russian Czarate, in 14G2. 


204 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


seizing the child, prepared to cut his head off From 
such an untimely fate he was rescued, destined to live, 
and be the means of cutting off the heads of many 
poor creatures during his reign. 

When a young man he had a strong constitutional 
antipathy to water; he would fall into convulsions in 
passing a rivulet. Yet he ended in becoming an 
experienced mariner, and in even feeling a pleasure in 
water. In addition to conquering his own weaknesses, 
he was most diligent in acquiring knowledge. A 
determination to learn every art and improvement 
made him a labourer in the dockyards, and led him to 
take lessons in several trades. For the first three years 
of his reign military tactics formed his chief study. 
To perfect himself in naval manoeuvres he set sail with 
a fleet of merchant vessels upon the White Sea, him¬ 
self acting as pilot. The universal ignorance of his 
subjects was the grand enemy to be conquered in 
the foundation of a new empire. He commenced his 
travels in 1697, sometimes living in miserable lodgings, 
and hiring himself as a workman to ship-builders. 
He was at this time most anxious to annex Esthonia 
and Livonia, possessed by the Swedes, as a means of 
obtaining a harbour on the Baltic. The indomitable 
perseverance of the Czar, who could be thrown into 
convulsions by the sight of a black beetle, or crowds 
annoying him while he worked, became more and more 
apparent. In January, 1698, he reached England, 
and began to work in the dockyards at Deptford. 
Having made the tour of the greater part of Europe, 


ST. PETERSBURG!!. 


205 


hearing of a revolt in his dominions, he hastened home 
and put to death, assisting with his own hands, 2000 
of the Strelitz. These guards had been displeased at 
the introduction of discipline into the Russian army, 
and the various reforms of Peter. He commenced 
his social improvements with a reform of the Russian 
dress, compelling his subjects to discard the long 
robes and flowing dresses of the Muscovites of old, 
and adopt the European costume of modern civilisa¬ 
tion. The ladies of Russia are much indebted to 
Peter. Till his time the women had been secluded in 
the Asiatic manner ; he now brought the fair sex 
forward to charm and adorn society. His great 
enemy, Charles the Twelfth, brought out all his 
military talents. The defeat of Narva was the first 
great blow Peter received. He had a great idea of 
men rising from low estate to eminence and fortune. 
He had raised his friend MenzikofF (who had been a 
pastry-cook), on account of his abilities, to the rank of 
a prince and a general ; and the Czar at last married 
the beautiful Livonian girl, who had been betrothed to 
a Swedish soldier, having found her able to assist him 
with her advice in the execution of his gigantic plans. 
This humble beauty’s name was Martha. After the 
Czar’s death she ruled as the Empress Catherine. Is it 
not a strange eventful history, this of the Czar Peter ? 

The only other point I shall note is, the first 
military action of the year 1703, the capture of Nya, 
on the Lake Ladoga, which chiefly determined Peter 
to build a new town near the Baltic, where the river 


206 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


Neva flows into the Gulf of Finland. True, the neigh¬ 
bourhood all around was barren and marshy ; but the 
quick eye of the Czar saw at once “ the advantages of 
the situation for his marine and his commerce and 
on the 27th of May, the day of Pentecost, he laid the 
first stone of St. Petersburgh. This change of the capital 
from Moscow, it is thought, tended perhaps “ more 
than anything to the civilisation of the Russians.” 

From such remarks some idea of the Czar may now 
be formed. He stands forth conspicuous as one of 
the most wonderful compounds of the great and the 
minute—of genius and error, to be found in history. 
In useful energy he was sublime, but in cruelty was 
often as bad as Timur, who thought nothing of order¬ 
ing 100,000 “ infidels” to be put to death! With 
the ferocity of the old Tartar, he sometimes reminds 
us of the able and vigorous Malwa kings of India, 
who rejoiced in the glory of their kingdom—did the 
business of it with all their might, and were deter¬ 
mined that it should flourish. No wonder that the 
statue on the verge of the rock should live for ever 
in our memories. And now let us continue our 
ramble, and visit the magnificent cathedral of St. 
Isaac. This architectural triumph is famous through¬ 
out Europe. There was now no scaffolding before it 
to mar the beauty of the picture, as there was when 
the Marquis de Custine, with all-observant eye, halted 

* Lord Dover’s ‘ Lives of Eminent Sovereigns.’ Tlie commence¬ 
ment of trade and commerce at St. Petersburgh was marked by the 
arrival of a Dutch merchant-ship, laden with comestibles. 


ST. PETERSBURG!!. 


207 


before the classic splendid pile. It is built in the form 
of a Greek cross, and is not, like our St. Paul’s,* 
confined or crowded by adjacent buildings. This 
gorgeous mountain of metal, marble, and granite has 
been described by very able pens, and I am afraid 
that I can add nothing to the descriptions. Inferior 
in size to St. Peter’s at Rome, St. Paul’s in London, 
and two or three other famous churches, it is never¬ 
theless an edifice of first-rate magnitude, with walls 
“ fenced with stupendous blocks of grey polished 
Finnish marble.” Each of the four grand entrances, 
approached by spacious granite steps, and the four 
facades, have a magnificent appearance, the simplicity 
of style and the wonderful beauty of proportion dis¬ 
played in the porticoes being quite astonishing. The 
enormous pillars supporting the latter are sixty feet 
high, with a diameter of seven feet; and these “ mono¬ 
lithic ” pillars of red polished granite were brought, at 
a vast expense, from the rich quarries of Finland. 
They are crowned with Corinthian capitals. The 
gilded dome of St. Isaac’s is surrounded by statues of 
bronze angels; and the interior is ornamented in 
a manner that I can safely say beggars all description. 
Go to Petersburgh, if it be only to see St. Isaac’s. 

The sockets and capitals of bronze of the gigantic 
columns beside which we were now standing, while 
about to enter the cathedral, were cast by Sir Charles 
Baird and Co., of Falkirk, a circumstance calling to 
mind how many illustrious Scotchmen have left “ the 

* Built in the form of a Latin cross. 


208 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


land of the mountain and the flood ” to figure by 
their enterprise in the far North. Peter the Great 
instituted the Order of St. Andrew, the apostle of 
Russia (perhaps connected with the tutelar saint of 
Scotland), and among other worthies, had a Scotch 
general, Gordon, in his service. But Catherine the 
Second, or the Great, was the grand and wise im¬ 
porter of genuine British material. The Greigs, the 
Crichtons, Admirals Ogilvie and Crown—all from 
Scotland—and Admiral Crowe from Cornwall—all 
owed their greatness to Russia. I have before alluded 
to Catherine’s admiration of Fox, of which orator 
Great Britain is proud; but, to come to Scotchmen 
again, through the instrumentality of Catherine, they 
introduced horticulture into Russia; and under that 
energetic Empress’s auspices, I believe, Dr. Roebuck, 
of Carron, established the great cannon-foundry at 
Kertch. Peter the Great introduced the first saw into 
Russia—who made it I cannot say; hut little could 
Peter have dreamed that such a splendid pile as St. 
Isaac’s would one day adorn his capital, about which 
church a Frenchman, a Scotchman, and a Russian 
were all employed ! (See Note, at end of Section.) 

The great iron dome was manufactured by Mr. 
Baird; and, as I have before mentioned, is the chief 
object beheld by the traveller on his approach to 
St. Petersburgh. Entering St. Isaac’s, our eyes are 
dazzled by the gilding, pictures, malachite, lapis-lazuli , 
porphyry, beautiful marble, gorgeous shrines, in short 
by every variety of splendour as we pass along; and 



ST. PETEBSBUEGrH. 


209 


close to us stalks forth the delighted pilgrim to 
devoutly place his little candle before the shrine of 
the Virgin. To him, even in his poverty, the soul is 
a continued living flame, for ever and ever unquench¬ 
able ! All the light work, or fittings, of the interior, 
are of iron or brass—no wood to be seen. On the 
square or quadrangle, which the cathedral fronts, a 
hundred thousand troops have been assembled. One 
of its issues “is through a triumphal arch; three 
others are up three principal streets of the city—one, 
the Nevsko'i Prospekt, as broad as Portland Place. 
On each side of the Admiralty, it opens, across the 
noble river, a vista of the opposite quays, buildings, 
Custom-house, rostral columns, and castle.’’ Leav¬ 
ing the great “ Muscovite Cathedral,” next to which 
ranks the church dedicated to our Lady of Kazan, we 
soon behold the new monument of the late Emperor 
Nicholas.* Having been so recently erected, this 
splendid equestrian statue is not mentioned in any 
of the popular works on Russia. Nicholas, in full 
Guard uniform, mounted on a spirited charger, in a 
less daring attitude than Peter’s, the hind legs reposing 
on a richly adorned pedestal, with at each corner a clas¬ 
sical figure, and on the sides the imperial eagle, with 
various devices ; then below, as it were, another larger 
pedestal, on which the former rests, this also richly 
carved; and an elaborate railing with elegant lamps 
on its crest, round the whole; such is the Russian 

* In the Eussian prints styled, “ Monument de l’Empercur 
Nicolas.” 

P 



210 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


tribute to the Czar Nicholas, who, whatever his fail¬ 
ings may have been, endeavoured well for his empire ! 

The Eussian sentry paces his weary tread beside 
the statue, near which are elegant buildings, streets, 
and a clear space in front, which sets off the monu¬ 
ment to the best advantage. Next to that of Berna- 
dotte at Stockholm, it is the finest statue for a city I 
have yet seen. And beside it, day by day, rolls the 
busy world of St. Petersburgh, its half-million of 
inhabitants, or more, often thinking of the father, 
with his noble bearing and stern will, while pondering 
over the doings of Alexander, the son. 

About three weeks are necessary to see all in and 
about St. Petersburgh. Ours was a more brief visit, 
and we made the most of our time. At this mention 
of time, I may note that the “ new style ” is not 
observed in Eussia. This mode of reckoning was 
produced by eleven days in September, 1752, being 
retrenched, and the third day reckoned as the four¬ 
teenth. Eussia and Greece are the only countries in 
which the old style is still adhered to, the difference 
between old and new being now twelve days. 

Meeting the lively Eussian Princess, by invitation, 
at her own house in St. Petersburgh, I there had 
an opportunity of beholding and conversing with a 
Eussian General. He returned our call and was most 
agreeable and communicative. He belonged to the 
suite of His Majesty the Emperor, and was as fine a 
specimen of a military officer as man could wish to 
see. I talked to him about the Emperor, the Amoor, 


ST. PETERSBURG!!. 


211 


and other subjects. There was no cause to be afraid 
of the Russians in the Amoor quarter. The Emperor 
was very kind and social; and Lord Palmerston, he 
(the General) considered a wonder, as who does not ? 
He was a zealous sportsman; had killed pheasants in 
Astracan, and bears and deer within a few miles of 
St. Petersburgh. Red deer, I think, he said were 
plentiful. I presume he had often enjoyed a wolf 
hunt, that most exciting of Russian sports; but on 
this subject we had no time to enter. The mansions 
of the nobility in St. Petersburgh are comfortable and 
splendid. Many of the ladies, in manner and appear¬ 
ance, quite resemble those of our own country. Ever 
since the days of the first Peter, they resolved to be 
thoroughly English or French. In the days of the 
second Peter, the ladies wore hoop-petticoats, and the 
gentlemen perriwigs. Now, the gentlemen dress like 
ourselves, and the ladies wear crinoline ! I should like 
to have got something more about the Amoor out of 
the Russian General, but it was impossible. Cotton, 
doubtless, will grow well there. The whole Amoor 
basin, according to the agent before cited, is as neces¬ 
sary to Russia in the development of that country, 
and to her quiet intercourse into the heart of Siberia, 
as the Mississippi valley was to the Americans in 
1803. By the last Indian news I find that America 
has induced Russia to look to other countries for 
cotton* Let no Englishman, then, neglect the waking 
up of Russia to the importance of the Amoor. 

* The cultivation of the staple in Khiva and Bokhara, from which 

P 2 


212 NOETHEEN EUEOPE. 

No sooner had I penned the foregoing sentence, 
than meeting an intelligent British Indian officer, I 
gained another view of the subject. There was a 
political significance about his remark which I at once 
desired to note. The Russians being engaged with 
the Amoor, drew off their attention from other quar¬ 
ters, which was greatly in our favour as regarded 
India and other parts with which we are immediately 
connected, as well as important in the preservation of 
universal peace. In the eastern quarter of the uni¬ 
verse, the ever active Russians are likewise making 
fortified harbours here and there. From anything 
exposed to the sea, or to the fire of our navy, we have 
nought to fear; let us look to his land settlements, 
while we watch the energetic Russian along the shores 
of the Caspian ! 

The lofty and elegant buildings of St. Petersburgh 
are apt at first sight to make the traveller suppose 
that the genius of architecture resided in this spot 
when the city rose from the marsh. But it was not 
so. At its origin, and long afterwards, like Stock¬ 
holm and other northern cities, the houses were all 
of wood; and, even at the end of the eighteenth cen¬ 
tury, there were two wooden houses to one brick one. 
When the magician of improvement waved his wand 
over St. Petersburgh, the enchanter came forth with 
his models from once “living Greece; ” and hence 

they are drawing supplies, has been very largely extended. The 

value of that sold recently at the fair of Novogorod was estimated at 
150 , 000 ?. 





ST. PETEESBUEGH. 


213 


the magnificent result. From the smallest metropolis 
in Europe, here as elsewhere, came forth models and 
marvels to astonish the world. A modern traveller 
of celebrity has well remarked, with reference to the 
architectural treasures of Athens, “ From St. Peters- 
burgh to Washington, there is not an attempt at 
ornamental architecture that does not claim descent 
from some one or other of these immortal structures.” 
Lord Byron unconsciously describes the qualities of 
Grecian architecture in the hero and heroine of one of 
his most famous poems :— 

“ The granite’s firmness, and the lily’s growth! ”* 

Among the magnificent public buildings in the Ad¬ 
miralty quarter, stands conspicuous the winter palace 
of the Czar. It is capable of affording shelter to 
6000 individuals. It was built on the site of the old 
palace (which was consumed by fire in 1837), in the 
wonderfully short space ot one year. It was the 
despot's will that in one year it should he finished; 
and, amidst much human suffering, a noble building 
speedily rose from the ashes of the old pile on the 
banks of the Neva.—It is a quadrangular building, 
with faces of about 700 feet in length. Adjoining 
it is the Hermitage,f another splendid modern palace, 
built by the Empress Catherine, also delightfully 
situated on the banks of the river, distinguished for 
the completeness of its external architecture and the 
richness of its internal decorations. Here, in the 

* ‘ The Corsair.’ Canto the Third. 

f United by covered bridges to winter palace. 


214 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


midst ot every earthly luxury, the mighty Catherine sat 
retired; and, in the elegant gardens attached to this 
palace, with statues, sofas, temples, and splendid gal¬ 
leries on each side adorning them, many of the most 
skilled in art and mighty in intellect assembled. 
Never before did I observe collected in one spot so 
many of the treasures of art as in this seclusion, where 
Catherine retired from the business of state to enjoy 
what Aristotle says it is the chief end of labour to 
gain—leisure. Malachite tables and vases, and others 
of lapis-lazuli, the superb collection of cameos , gems 
in sculpture and painting; in short, nearly everything 
that could delight the eye charmed us as we strolled 
through the Hermitage. Gifts from emperors in gilt 
cases, covering the superb floors of oak, and other 
woods, tastefully inlaid, meeting our view, brought 
us at last into the regions of literature. These gifts 
for all time consisted of beautifully bound volumes, 
by authors of many lands, among them a gorgeous 
French work,* given by the first Napoleon to Alex¬ 
ander. And now we arrived beside the library of 
Voltaire. A statue of the philosopher himself, in his 
morning costume, guarded the entrance. Here he 
sat with that same sage, sneering, thin face, so well 
known to many of us from his bust, and which we 
cannot look upon without regretting the wilful per¬ 
version of so much intellect. The knowledge of 
Voltaire was immense. His versatility of talent was 
prodigious. Had he only used it well, how posterity 

* * La Musee Fran<;aise.’ 


ST. PETERSBURG!!. 


215 


of every nation would have blessed his name! Among 
his favourite volumes I particularly noticed one on 
Poland—the nation, in our time, which appears to 
be always in tribulation—never out of mourning. 
Let us hope the “ better days ” are nigh at hand ! 

Another splendid mass of architecture is the Hotel 
de PEtat-Major, immediately opposite the winter 
palace; and, in the open space between these ranges 
of buildings, stands the red granite column of the Czar 
Alexander, so mixed up with the history of Napo¬ 
leon. It is said that “ neither ancient nor modern 
times ever saw so large a piece of stone fashioned 
from the quarry.” The column is surmounted by 
a gigantic figure of Hope, holding the cross, and 
pointing upwards. On the pedestal is the inscription, 
“To Alexander the First. Grateful Eussia.” 
From the most remarkable ornament of the Etat- 
Major, consisting of a triumphal archway, surmounted 
by a car of Victory, with eight bronze horses abreast, 
surveying the Alexander column, the monument 
seems perfect; but, on a closer inspection, a huge 
rent or crack in the granite is observable, which is 
much to be regretted, especially as the column is 
looked upon “ with very justifiable pride by the 
Bussians.” # 

The yellow wash and plaster about the triumphal 
arch—here and there brackets and mouldings fallen 
off—detracted much from its beauty; but, on the 

* The Romanzoff ancl Suwaroff monuments, erected to famous Rus¬ 
sian generals, are also well worthy of the traveller’s attention. 


216 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


whole, we had this day seen specimens of architec¬ 
ture, well repaying our visit to St. Petersburgh, and 
the like of which are nowhere else to be seen. And 
now we proceed to take a stroll in the Nevskoi Pros- 
pekt. Here is to be seen every variety of Eussian 
character. Prince, peasant, soldier, priest—all look 
at each other in this vast street. The shops are 
. spacious and handsome; and nearly every article re¬ 
quired by the most fastidious is to he obtained in the 
Nevskoi. There is neither the noise nor the bustle 
of Oxford Street, nor even of Eegent Street, in our 
modern Babylon; but it is evident that the people in 
the capital of Eussia are not asleep. The pavement, 
by one traveller, is styled u execrable.” An accom¬ 
plished authoress mentions a “ graceless stroll on the 
cold sunny pavements of the Nevskoi,” Eussians of 
all garbs and ranks passing before you; however, 
the pavements are not so had as those of Copenhagen 
and elsewhere in the North. Merchants, with quick 
pulse of gain, move along here rapidly enough. 
Here are even Indian millionnaires, one of whom re¬ 
cently possessed three millions of rubles, nearly half- 
a-million sterling. Clockmakers, hosiers, milliners, 
tailors, and booksellers, have all excellent shops in 
this vast thoroughfare. Jewellers, too, are sprinkled 
here and there. The signs have not only the name 
of the tradesman, but the article he sells, painted 
on them, sometimes with great taste and finish. 
From the Nevskoi a drive home by the royal stables 
afforded us an opportunity of seeing St. Petersburgh 


ST. PETERSBURG!!. 




217 


from another interesting point of view. The droschky 
driver was in himself a study. On this occasion he 
was a middle-aged man; but frequently the charge of 
horse and vehicle, as well as of your life, is entrusted 
to mere lads or boys. I may note that, on one occa¬ 
sion, while driving to our hotel, over the next bridge 
above St. Isaac’s, a small steamer passing along the 
river, set off the horse, who, feeling himself unre- . 
strained by his youthful driver, dashed along at a 
fearful pace, causing us to muse over the probability 
of a return to our native land with a fractured limb 
or two—no very pleasant prospect. Perpetual motion 
not being discovered, the horse stopped of his own 
accord. 

And now our visit approaches its end. We begin 
to think of departure, and get ready for a change 
from St. Petersburgh to Berlin. The first thing to be 
done is to proceed with our petitions, or laissez-aller 
papers, from the police to the Bureau des Etrangers. 
These important documents are sealed, and were pro¬ 
cured for us by the master of the hotel. Their pur¬ 
port is to show that we have contracted no debts in 
the imperial city. Possessing them we are nearly free 
men, and we proceed with delight to the Bureau; for, 
after all, it has been well said that there is no pleasure 
like that of going abroad, excepting one—returning 
home ! It was a feast day; but notwithstanding we 
were admitted to the chamber of audience. The 
chief of the Bureau now furnished us with new Rus¬ 
sian passports, our own from the Foreign Office, 


218 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


London, having done their work.* In order to pro¬ 
cure the new document, I had to answer such ques¬ 
tions as the following, to one of the most civil public 
officers I ever met:— 

“ Your name ? ” — “ Country ? ” — “ Profession ? ” 
—“ Eank ? ” 

“ How long have you served in the army ? ” 

To the latter question I replied, “ Nearly twenty 
years.”—“ What ? twenty years and only a captain ?” 
inquired the chief. I presume he thought that, had I 
been in the Prussian army, I should have been a general 
at least after so many years’ service. “ In the artillery 
promotion is slow but sure,” I replied. “ In what 
country have you served ?” When I mentioned India, 
he seemed more surprised still. I fancied he "was 
labouring under the common erroneous impression 
that, in the East, life being more than usually in 
jeopardy, promotion was very rapid. “ Married or 
single ?”—“ Where come from ?"■—“ Whither going ?” 
Such were a few of the questions put to us by the 
chief of the Bureau. We next proceeded to the 
Prussian consul to have our passports vise. The 
people here were as civil as in the Russian office; and 
so, having come to the country of the Czar with the 
impression that we would meet with officials as uncivil 
as bears, to whom, if we replied indignantly, a prison 
and black bread, the knout or Siberia might be our 
fate, we were about to leave it with a very high idea 

* For the information of travellers I may note that, at Stockholm, a 
passage cannot bo taken for Helsingfors without delivering up passport. 


ST. PETERSBURG!!. 


219 


of Russian civility to strangers. Even in that busy 
world, the Post-office, every desire to accommodate us 
was manifested. On this I began to moralize, and 
came to the conclusion that it depends very much on 
a man’s manner and conduct how he is treated in 
foreign lands. 

Politeness costs nothing, and is a most valuable 
commodity to possess in our journey through life. 
“ Be courteous ” is a divine command, and should be 
considered among the chief marching orders of every 
discreet traveller. 

While transcribing* these notes from the original 
diary, I learn that important political changes may, at 
no very remote date, be expected in Russia. 

For some time past the conduct of public affairs 
in that country has not given satisfaction. Poland, 
university disturbances (especially at St. Petersburgh), 
and other matters have given rise to serious debates 
among the community, which debates seemed to pre¬ 
dict that the reign of the Romanoffs was nigh its end. 
It was resolved to modify the “isolated and almost 
subordinate action of the Ministers of the Emperor,” 
by forming a Council of Ministers to direct public 
affairs. Should their proceedings be published, and 
the basis of representation really be extended, these will 
be, perhaps, the most liberal measures ever adopted 
in the land of the Czar. Next comes the intelligence 
that symptoms in favour of a separation from Russia 
are manifesting themselves in Finland. 

* January, 1862. 


220 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


The Emperor having been recently kind* to his 
Finnish subjects—at least kind for a Czar—seizing 
the opportunity—they ask for more. 

The obstinacy of poor Poland, struggling for her in¬ 
dependence, and this news of “severance” from Finland 
are attributed to the signs of weakness latterly shown 
by Russia. The day for Russian pressure on Europe 
is said to be past, and “it is now a problem how long 
Czar Alezander can hold his own.” His desire to 
ameliorate the condition of his people, I am afraid, 
will only be attended with success by an entire change 
in the form of government. Looking at a summary 
of Europe I find that, out of twenty-four Govern¬ 
ments, only three are despotic—Russia, Poland, and 
Turkey, with their religions, respectively, Greek 
Church, Roman Catholic, and Mahomedan. Mo¬ 
narchy, or limited monarchy (as in our own country) 
must, ere long, I think, be the Government of every 
enlightened country in the world. 

The Swedish nation desires to regain its lost 
Finland. 

A popular writer likens St. Petersburgh to an 
encampment, because the country surrounding it is 
peopled by Finns, and the opposite bank of the Neva 
is Finnish ground; and thus “ Sweden and the Russian 
empire now stand face to face, like David and Goliah.” 
The loss of Finland would, doubtless, be a serious 
blow to Russia. It used to be “ the only nursery for 
sailors in the Russian empire.” Should Sweden regain 
* See note at beginning of this Section. 




ST. PETEESBUEGH. 


221 


this province she will soon have a well-manned navy, 
and then let Germany or Prussia beware ! Finland 
will never lose its attachment to the old Scandinavian 
alliance. 

Russia, with her army of nearly a million (600,000 
regulars) could, doubtless, prevent any of her fine 
provinces being wrested from her, but she may find 
it politic to give way in cases where the people are 
hostile to the Czarate; and thus the history of the 
decline of despotism will begin. Russia has a popula¬ 
tion, according to some, of 68,000,000. What a 
magnificent held, then, has Alexander in which to 
achieve liberal and enlightened triumphs ! On the 
5th day of March, 1861, the liberation of millions of 
serfs was proclaimed in St. Isaac’s church. In Russia 
the struggle between slavery and freedom, I trust, 
is nearly at an end. Then America, not having set, 
must follow the example. The signature of the Czar, 
“ Alexander,”* emancipated twenty-three millions of 
men. This may or may not cause Russian power to 
decline, and make a greater division of empire inevit¬ 
able. But Russia still is a mighty power; and I cannot 
muse over the destiny awaiting it without thinking of 
Campbell’s impressive lines, written during the life of 
the father of the present Czar:— 

“ What implement lacks lie for war’s career, 

That grows on earth, or in its floods and mines, 

(Eighth sharer of the inhabitable sphere,) 

Whom Persia bows to, China ill confines, 

And India’s homage waits, when Albion’s star declines! ” 

* Alexander II., Emperor of all the Eussias, is also King of Poland. 
IIo was born in 1818, and succeeded his father in 1855. 





222 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


A Russian Winter- 

Napoleon’s disastrous campaign, and the burning 
of Moscow, are strongly associated with youthful ideas 
of a Russian winter. In the year of our visit, early in 
November, the winter in Russia set in with consider¬ 
able severity. On the 20th the Neva was passable on 
foot, and almost ready to bear sledges. An enter¬ 
prising merchant (M. Solondovnikov) was about to 
apply steam power to drawing these vehicles. He 
also purposed establishing regular trains for passengers 
and goods between St. Petersburgh and Cronstadt. 
The cold in St. Petersburgh, by Fahrenheit’s scale, is 
in December, January, and February, usually from 
8° to 15° or 20° below zero, that is, from 40° to 52° 
below freezing point. It has even been known as low as 
74°. When walking in such weather, the eyes water; 
icicles hang on the eye-lashes. I dare not say what 
happens to the nose ! Lumps of ice are to be seen 
hanging to men’s beards. The beard, therefore, is as 
useful in a northern as in an eastern clime. To sleep 
outside during a Russian winter is, to many, certain 
death. When the thermometer has stood at 25° below 
zero, Dr. King says that boiling water, thrown up into 
the air by an engine, has fallen down formed into ice. A 
pint bottle of common water was found by him frozen 
into a solid piece of ice in an hour and a quarter. 
Quarter of an hour more was all the time necessary to 


ST. PETERSBURGH. 


223 


freeze a bottle of strong ale. Turning from such 
severity of cold at St. Petersburgh to other parts, 
and especially the Crimea, during the Russian war, we 
have a traveller in an open sledge in winter in the 
north of Russia breaking his brandy with a hammer 
for breakfast. Nothing but fur can effectually resist 
such cold. The same traveller thinks it only half 
true that the cold is not so severe in the Crimea as in 
the north. In the Crimea there are violent winds, 
and 10° of frost with wind are worse than 30° 
without it. For troops in extreme cold he recom¬ 
mends two sheep-skins sewn together, with the wool 
inside, and the accoutrements over them. The fingers 
without gloves cannot touch iron, and then the muskets 
are difficult to fire. But shoes for the troops form 
the grand difficulty. Russian officers in pulling off 
their boots sometimes pull off their feet or toes with 
them ! If the feet are wet during a severe frost, it is 
sometimes impossible to save the toes. The Russian 
fur shoes, called “ Kinghies,” being too cumbrous, 
coverlets of rabbit-skin are recommended. It is to 
be hoped that our British soldiers in Canada, if called 
on to act during a severe winter, will adapt themselves 
better to circumstances than they did in the Crimea. 


The Wife Show. 

The last lingering relic of a once popular custom, 
the woman or wife show, took place in 1861, in St. 
Petersburgh. It has long been one of the peculiarities 


224 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


of Northern life. Only six candidates for matrimony 
presented themselves in the Summer Garden, where 
the citizens display and amuse themselves. The 
Russians have taken to arranging matters matrimonial 
in a more private way at home. There, as here, the 
dictum of Dr. Johnson holds good, that the great end 
of female education is to get a husband.* 


Note. —Having alluded to enterprising Scotchmen in Russia in 
the course of the foregoing section, I trust that I have not laid myself 
open to a charge I wish to avoid,—that of being prejudiced in favour 
of any particular nation. A distinguished Scotch professor, in a 
recent lecture on “ Scottish Nationality and Character,” by denounc¬ 
ing English intellect, and bringing down the charge of “vulgar pro¬ 
vincial vanity,” takes quite a wrong method of adding to the well- 
known merits and glory of his country. Each country has peculiar 
merits of its own. Such nationality movements only create a bad 
feeling. Let us be content to look abroad—to Russia and to India, 
for instance—where the Scotchman, warranted to do any amount of 
work, and philosophize thereon if you wish it, passes for his true 
value. 


* See Appendix for some details of a Wife Show. 





225 


VIII. 

FROM ST. PETERSBURG!! TO BERLIN. 

It was at first our intention to reach Berlin by way 
of Stettin, which would have entailed a long and ex¬ 
pensive sea voyage upon us. By the advice of an old 
traveller we changed the route to via Konigsberg by 
malle (mail-coach) and rail—the latter mode of travel¬ 
ling commencing and ending our journey. While we 
were in Russia the line was only nearly completed. At 
the end of 1861, however, St. Petersburgli was united 
to the network of European railways, the last intersec¬ 
tion in that from the Russian frontier to the capital of 
the Russian empire having been filled up 5 and now 
locomotives move along the whole line. During a 
visit on the day of our departure, we met a Russian 
gentleman who was about to start, by the same route , 
to visit the Paris Exhibition. Although no Russian 
leaves his country without permission, the desire to 
visit other countries—especially France and England 
—is continual among the higher class. The love of 
travel and adventure is predominant in the Russian 
character. Whether settling down in Chinese or other 

Q 




226 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


provinces, under pretence of surveying the country, 
and thus endeavouring to occupy every position of 
importance for their Government, or in the gambling 
houses or other “ fashionable ” resorts at Baden-Baden 
or Paris, on their own account, the same activity and 
making oneself at home become apparent. His apti¬ 
tude for languages makes the Russian just one of 
the men after Bacon’s own heart who should travel. 
Voltaire, writing in 1727, mentions Peter’s obliging the 
young nobility to travel for improvement, and to bring 
back into Russia the politeness of foreign countries. 
He had himself seen young Russians who were men of 
genius and science. Then the population did not ex¬ 
ceed fourteen millions. The increase has been attri¬ 
buted, in addition to military conquest, to the arts of 
civil policy and the inducement held out for foreigners 
to come to and reside in the country. 

Now, leaving the Kaiser , and taking a last look of 
the inanimate Neva and the splendid buildings which 
adorn the imperial city, we arrive at the railway station. 
And here I would caution the traveller not to come with 
English gold, but with Russian bank-notes. The rail¬ 
way officials are not compelled to change money. In 
the hurry of departure they will tender to you the 
lowest rate of exchange possible for your sovereign, 
which you must either submit to or be refused a 
ticket; so, by neglect of a little precaution, you may 
be the loser of a pound or two in a fare from St. Peters- 
burgh to Berlin. The baggage is weighed and charged 
extra at a most exorbitant rate. The impedimenta of 


ST. PETERSBURG!! TO BERLIN. 


227 


every traveller should be on as small a scale as possible. 
The wise saying of the old Grecian, “ Big book, big 
nuisance,” may be applied to baggage, which should 
now, in portability, copy the books of the present day 
—books, “ the military baggage of the human under¬ 
standing in its endless march!” 

Leaving at 2 p.m., early next morning we arrived 
at Dunabourg. The railway station is about a mile 
off; so we repaired to the village in a sort of diligence , 
containing ten persons. The order of the day now 
became putting ourselves in the hands of the “ Service 
des Postes Imperiales—De Dunabourg d Kowno —Tra- 
jet en malle-poste.” After this we were to be at the 
mercy of the “ Grande Societe des Chemins de Fer 
Russes— De Kowno a Eydkuhnen —Trajet en chemin 
de fer.” About 10 a.m. we arrived at Egypten, the 
first station, having gone ten miles, at a rattling pace, 
over a good road. Here we changed our six horses; 
and, taking a glance at the station-house, I was pleased 
with the neat ornamented brickwork, to which green 
and white paint about the woodwork gave a fresh and 
lively aspect. Good walls of granite completed the 
little picture. We were soon preparing to cross the 
Dwina. This operation was performed over a floating 
bridge, the magnificent one of iron constructing near 
it not being yet finished. The river had a dull appear¬ 
ance, reminding me of the dark-flowing Kistna. It was 
low tide ; but the river rises very high, as was evident 
from the position of the boats and rafts which lay high 
and drv on the banks. The roads increased in excel- 

q 2 


228 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


lence. I only wish we had such in India. Beautiful 
lake scenery occasionally charmed us ; and the daisy, 
the Scotch thistle, the buttercup, and splendid birch 
trees reminded us of our own land. Corn and barley 
fields abounded—all giving the idea of a flourishing 
state of agriculture. ^ Over the famous Warsaw road 
we dashed at a rapid trot, the excellent pace of the 
horses and the picturesque aspect of the country 
having a most exhilarating effect upon our constitutions 
—notwithstanding a few of the “ ills ” to which tra¬ 
vellers must ever be exposed. Looking on this excellent 
road, along which, nearly all the way, are posts of black 
and white, edged with red, also neatly painted stones, 
all telling their own story, I thought of the many weary 
marches made over this famous highway; and we be¬ 
held, occasionally, a band of Russian soldiers trudging 
along, with helmet and musket, going on or return¬ 
ing from furlough. In the afternoon and evening, 
villages began to appear. Peasants walked merrily 
along, not unobserved, to the distant hamlet with its 
little church on the hill, where, doubtless, “ bending 
swains ” were as earnestly expected by bright eyes 
as in other lands; the subdued glow of a Russian 
sunset disappeared ; in the coach we performed 
strange things in “ dream-land 5 ’ for several hours; 
and at half-past four the next morning, we found our¬ 
selves at Kowno. 

From St. Petersburgh we had now passed Luga, 
from which point, not far to our left, and south of the 
modern, lies Novgorod, the ancient capital of Russia. 


ST. PETERSBURG!! TO BERLIN. 229 

Then came Pskov; and, having skirted Esthonia and 
Livonia, we were now in Polish land.* The Dwina 
had been crossed. Next came the Niemen—another 
river celebrated in military history. Crossing this, we 
were fairly beyond the Russian frontier, the last station 
in the Czar’s dominions being Wierzbolow. Our pas¬ 
sage of the Niemen in a humble coach gave time 
to think over the brilliant pages of history, relating 
the enthusiasm with which the French army crossed 
it, to advance on Moscow, in 1812, and the “sorry 
sight ” which presented itself when the wretched rem¬ 
nant of human life sacrificed to ambition—the remnant 
of that once-mighty army—while returning to France, 
lined the banks of the river at Kowno ! 

The wisest action of Russia, at this period of her 
history, was to break the alliance with France, which, 
at Tilsit, had been too hastily formed 1 At Kowno a 
railway journey of three or four hours was before us. 
The carriages were most comfortable—the pace not 
alarming; and at half-past nine we were seated at 
breakfast at Eydkuhnen, on the Prussian frontier. 
Here the passport is vise , and the luggage examined. 
There is no fee, and a fair share of civility. We were 
off again very shortly, passing through a beautiful 
country, reminding one of old England. We soon ar¬ 
rived at Stollopen, the first station from Eydkuhnen, 
distant from Berlin about 460 miles.f We hoped to 

* To Dunabourg the distance is 308 miles. To Kowno is less than 
100 more, 

t Only 100 German. 



230 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


be in the capital of Prussia early next morning. The 
monotony of our journey from St. Petersburgh had 
been relieved by various incidents — not the least im¬ 
portant of which was the railway carriage next us 
taking fire, to the infinite alarm of its inmates ; we had 
also the lively conversation of a German merchant, I 
think, from Frankfort-on-the-Maine. Some Russian 
soldiers, near the capital, had attracted my attention ; 
they came in the third-class train a considerable dis¬ 
tance, evidently bound for a scene of manual labour 
rather than for the platoon exercise, each man bearing 
a hatchet. From our German friend, I learned the 
power of his general over the Russian soldier. The 
former functionary receives all the soldier’s pay, and 
lets him out on hire besides, appropriating the profits 
of such labour, of course giving the private just suffi¬ 
cient to live upon. This custom seems odd to military 
men who have been accustomed to look so sharply 
after the rights of the soldier; but it is part of the 
Russian military system. The officers are so badly 
paid in general, they must do something. Such are 
Russian ideas. A lieutenant in the Russian infantry 
has only fifteen or sixteen rubles a month. I have 
read that the maintenance of this army absorbs far 
more than half the gross revenue of the empire. 
But, after all, the pay of the common soldier, after de¬ 
ducting for the common purse called artel , for black¬ 
ing, whiting, and so forth, amounts to only six cents 
monthly in cash. “ His equipment consists in three 
shirts, two pairs of shoes, two pairs of trowsers, one 


ST. PETERSBURG!! TO BERLIN. 


231 


full-dress uniform, one jacket, and a long military 
overcoat.”* 

Russia can keep five soldiers for what one costs us. 
Marshal Marmont’s estimate of the cost of a foot 
soldier in each of the great countries of Europe will be 
interesting at the present time :—A foot soldier costs 
Russia 41. 16s. per annum; Austria, 81. 9s .; Prussia, 
9/. 12s.; France, 13/. 12s.; England, 21/. The latter 
is far too low an estimate for our country in the present 
happily improved condition of the British soldier. 

At Eydkuhnen, wishing some English money 
changed into Prussian, I was very nearly doing busi¬ 
ness with a Polish Jew; or, rather the Polish Jew was 
very nearly doing me. The value of my sovereign, 
the German merchant had informed me, was six thalers , 
twenty or twenty-five groschen —the Prussian thaler 
(dollar) being equal to three shillings, and ten groschen 
being equal to one. The Jew was anxious to “ do it” 
for me at five dollars and twenty groschen. I expos¬ 
tulated ; hut to no effect. The hardened son of Israel 
would not give one groschen more ; so turning in de¬ 
spair to our German friend, he at once changed the 
money, at the current rate, into genuine Prussian 
coin ! 

Regarding the Polish Jews,—so influential at War¬ 
saw and elsewhere,—I have been informed that they 
are, generally speaking, a dirty set of people ; all winter 
wearing the same sheepskin, with the wool inside, 

* Count A. do Gurowski s i Russia and its People. 


232 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


without ever thinking of change. This is quite on a 
par with some of the low castes of India. In the interior 
of Poland there is a strange custom, which is now 
dying out; during courtship the suitor taking the slip¬ 
per of his intended off her foot, drinking wine out of it, 
and thereby proclaiming himself the man ! There is a 
good deal of the Asiatic, too, about this custom. We 
are finding out what is Asiatic more and more every 
day. Gipsies, it is now a settled point, are not from 
Slavonian Bohemia, but from the far East; and the 
Scottish bagpipes—some sets of which have been 
written for by the Maharajah of Cashmere—were 
doubtless heard in the magnificent valleys of the 
Himalaya, and among the glorious Neilgherries, in 
ages long passed away ! 

Posen, a dukedom of Poland, # belongs to Prussia ; 
and here is, perhaps, the finest fortification of that 
kingdom. Posen is garrisoned entirely by Prussian 
officers, who detest the Poles and everything Polish ! 
We go off the road once more ; and as I have touched 
on Jews, I may remark that the Senate at St. Peters- 
burgh have published (in January, 1862) an imperial 
decree, granting several privileges to Jews who have 
obtained medical or other diplomas from one of the 
universities of the empire. Jewish merchants also are 
to be permitted to take up their residence in any part 

* The cool way in which Russia, Austria, and Prussia sliced off 
this fine hut wretched kingdom, is well known to every reader of Euro¬ 
pean history. Cracow is the capital of Austrian Poland; Posen, of 
Prussian. 


ST. PETERSBURG!! TO BERLIN. 


233 


of Russia. In certain professions, they are to be ex¬ 
empted from taxation, and to receive decorations! 
What would King John, of Magna Charta celebrity, 
have said to this change, I wonder ? 

At two in the afternoon, we reached Konigsberg, 
where it is well known the Kings of Prussia are 
crowned; and where, on the 18 th of October, 1861 , 
the present King and Queen heard the music of Mey¬ 
erbeer—a march composed for the occasion — as it 
was played beneath the windows of the Muscovite 
Hall, announcing to the multitude that William him¬ 
self was about to place on his head the Prussian crown ! # 
On this impressive occasion, William the First march¬ 
ing forward, in general’s uniform covered with the 
mantle of the Order of the Black Eagle, his plumed 
helmet in his hand, is no ordinary event in Prussian 
annals! As the seven or eight spires of Konigsberg 
rose to view, I regretted our inability to pass a few days 
in this interesting Prussian city ; but off we set at a 
rapid pace for Berlin, leaving all regret behind. Cross¬ 
ing a branch of the Vistula at Marienbourg, by means 
of a splendid bridge, at the beautiful Gothic entrance 
of which stands a tower very appropriately styled 


* Tlie crown is taken from the sacramental table.—Charles the 
Twelfth, of Sweden, having been annointed, snatched the crown from 
the Archbishop of Upsala, and crowned himself. Napoleon also usurped 
the right of coronation. Russian Czars, from their being crowned 
at Moscow, have made that city still, to all Russians, the city of 
the heart. The Prussians, who derive their name from the Pruzzi 
—a Slavonic tribe who occupied the country after the Goths pro¬ 
bably think the same of Konigsberg, the old capital. 



234 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


“ Butter-milk Churn !” — a German baron’s castle 
adding to the beauty of a rare picture—we soon arrived 
at the noble Vistula, and crossed the larger bridge, the 
Pont de Dirschau , to the Dirschau station, which we 
reached late in the afternoon. To describe this mag¬ 
nificent bridge is beyond my power; suffice it to say 
that it is one mile and two hundred yards in length, 
with five elegant piers rising into towers supporting it; 
and, above the archway at the end, there is a splendid 
piece of sculpture representing the King of Prussia on 
horseback. At Derschau, from the spacious and well¬ 
decorated saloon of the station-house, I gazed on this 
bridge with intense admiration. The sun was just 
setting, and lent glory to the Vistula—a river which, 
from my boyhood, I had often longed to see. At half¬ 
past five o’clock the next .morning, we arrived in Ber¬ 
lin. We repaired to the Hotel Roy ale, in that famous 
street Unter den Linden; and after breakfast proceed¬ 
ing to that mart for anxious minds, the Post-office, we 
were soon at liberty to take a view of Prussia’s inter¬ 
esting and, in many respects, beautiful capital, contain¬ 
ing 530,269 souls. 

So much has been written about this city, that I 
shall have little to say regarding local matters. A 
gifted lady acquaintance of mine has honoured me, for 
the amusement of the public, with the following social 
and, I think, novel— 


ST. PETERSBURG!! TO BERLIN. 


235 


Notes on Berlin. 

The dinner-hoar amongst fashionable people is three 
o’clock, therefore the principal time for promenading 
is between 1 and 3 p.m.; the place, Unter den Linden, 
where, in winter at that hour, one sees crowds of ele¬ 
gant-looking ladies and gay young officers—the latter 
clanking along with spurs and swords, lifting their 
shakos at every step to the ladies of their acquaintance ; 
for here it is the custom for gentlemen to bow first; 
whilst, should the weather be frosty with enough snow 
on the ground, gay sledges, seated for two people, dash 
merrily along, all their little bells tinkling at once, and 
making the spirited little Liittauer horses half mad with 
excitement as they take their way to the Thier Garten , 
to see the skating on the canal. This is a pretty 
sight; ladies in their tight jackets and with neat little 
skates skimming over the smooth surface hand-in- 
hand with the officers, who abound here; children, in 
strings of three or four, racing, playing, and dancing all 
sorts of mazy figures. Even stout, comfortable Ma¬ 
mas, Eismutter , as they call a chaperone on the ice ; in 
short, all on skates, and all enjoying a freedom from 
etiquette quite remarkable in such an etiquette-loving 
nation as the Prussian ; for, contrary to all received 
ideas, cold seems to soften here, instead of hardening, 
even to the length of permitting the young lady who 
could neither dance twice running with the same gen- 



236 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


tleman, nor talk quietly with him for two minutes at a 
time, without being spoken of, to drive for two hours 
alone with him in his sledge. 

In summer the gayest time and place for driving, 
riding, and promenading, is the evening in the Tflier 
Garten itself. This park is so called from having been 
once a large deer forest; now it is laid out in avenues, 
paths, and artificial lakes, the resort of the Ber¬ 
liners of every class. Driving through this park on a 
lovely summer evening, Berlin impresses one as the 
most pleasure-seeking and public-living of places ;— 
everywhere are booths, benches, and tea-tables, where 
gradations of society and amusement maybe observed, 
from the common people smoking, drinking that hor¬ 
rid stuff, Berlin “white beer,’’ and dancing to not at 
all bad music, to the more staid and respectable citi¬ 
zen and his family around their tea or coffee-table ; 
the gentlemen of the party discussing politics between 
the puffs of their cigars, whilst the ladies’ stockings 
proceed alarmingly fast under their nimble fingers, 
notwithstanding the tea and the gossip ; whilst the 
aristocracy and the Jews drive leisurely and comfort¬ 
ably along in their not elegant open carriages ; and the 
students and officers flock to Croll’s,—a large house 
and garden in the Thier Garten, where every kind of 
entertainment goes on ; concert; theatre ; dancing ; 
smoking; lounging; and drinking, either of tea, claret, 
or other luxurious beverages. 

The people of Berlin are decidedly a very theatre¬ 
going and music-loving one. In summer they have 


ST. PETERSBURG!! TO BERLIN. 


237 


always a Summer Theatre, erected in the Park, which 
is constantly filled. Amongst the Jews and Burger, 
Sunday is the great day for balls and parties, conse¬ 
quently the higher classes generally refrain from enter¬ 
taining on that day, both to avoid being vulgar as well 
as to give the holiday to their servants. The best 
operas and plays are on Sunday. 

There is a good and talented literary circle in Ber¬ 
lin ; it is, however, exclusive, and members of it never 
mix with the military, as their interests, feelings, and 
political notions are so totally at variance. Military 
men in Prussia are almost always strict and very illibe¬ 
ral Conservatives, whereas the literary men are Libe¬ 
rals, or, as the officers call them, the Radicals. The 
military, again, by no chance mix with the Burger , 
unless one of the numerous Lieutenants finds the state 
of his purse calling upon him to seek for a rich wife, 
in which case he does not find even his general con¬ 
tempt for the descendants of Israel, sufficient to pre¬ 
vent him from taking unto himself a wife from their 
number. 

The great commercial transaction of Berlin is the 
wool sale in June, to which all the farmers and country 
gentlemen come up with their wool, and at which the 
buyers are mostly English merchants and manufac¬ 
turers from Manchester, Leeds, and other British 
towns ; of course with a sprinkling of Jews, in whose 
hands, in fact, the whole commerce of Berlin, not to 
say Prussia, lies. 

One of the great resorts, on a summer evening, is 


238 


NOBTHEBN EUBOPE. 


B-’s, a famous ice-shop, under the Linden, where 

one finds all the newspapers of the day lying about on 
the tables, ready for perusal during the demolition of 
any kind of ice one chooses to call for,—a refreshment 
which, grateful as it is in the hot dusty weather of 
June in Berlin, is not unfrequently cast into the back¬ 
ground by a dish called Kalt Schale , composed of iced 
beer, dried currants, bread crumbs, sugar, and a few 
slices of lemons ; and the cool and refreshing qualities 
of which are certainly very acceptable, although the 
taste is an acquired one, and the dish may not suit all 
British palates. 

It has been generally remarked that, although some 
European cities contain statelier edifices than Berlin, 
still there are few that exhibit so many gems collected 
in one spot. The city is throughout well built; and 
although it may not contain any very remarkable 
architectural triumphs, does infinite credit to Prussian 
good taste in the arrangement of the buildings, with 
reference to the principal streets and gardens ; well- 
chosen sites and a regard for perspective becoming 
especially welcome to the British traveller, while he 
laments over, at least, one beautiful capital (more fa¬ 
voured by nature in position than most of the cities of 
Europe), with its architectural beauty utterly ruined 
by placing one huge public edifice close to another, as 
if the genius of bad taste and disorder had at length 
determined to mark the city as his own ! Where to 
place a building, not so much as how to make one, is 
the grand secret of a beautiful city. A Prussian gen- 



ST. PETERSBURG!! TO BERLIN. 


239 


tleman well remarked, “ If we had only had your site 
and your money, what a splendid capital we should 
have made of Edinburgh !” The Museum; the Royal 
palace ; the Opera and Frederick William’s theatre ; 
the Library, the Arsenal, and many other instructive 
and amusing sights, will afford the traveller intense 
gratification during his stay in Berlin. Strolling about 
the Unter den Linden* at the end of which stands 
the famous Brandenburg Gate, I could not help ad¬ 
miring the extent of view presented along this hand¬ 
some street, planted with trees not very luxuriant in 
their growth. From the Brandenburg Gate may be 
seen a number of public edifices, extending to a little 
bridge over the Spree, which leads from the Royal 
Palace to the Arsenal Square. Turning from the build¬ 
ings and statues on the TJnter den Linden , we gave a 
considerable portion of our time to the Palace and 
Museum. These are, perhaps, the most attractive 
sights in Berlin. In the Museum a fortnight could be 
passed with profit and delight, in beholding the varie¬ 
ties of vases, bronzes, statues, and paintings by the old 
masters which it contains. The magnificent suites of 
rooms in the palace, through which we went sliding 
along with huge woollen slippers, gave us a grand idea 
of the luxury of Prussian kings. Some lifelike pic¬ 
tures of the Fredericks, Charles the Twelfth, “ old 
Blucher,” and Napoleon, adorned the walls; and in a 
grand saloon appeared the sovereigns of Europe* in- 


* Under tlie Linden trees. 


240 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


eluding an admirable picture of Her Most Gracious 
Majesty Queen Victoria. After feasting our eyes on 
silver and gold ornaments, and mosaic work, we visited 
the richly-decorated Royal chapel,—well worthy of the 
stranger’s attention; and then, again in the open 
air, on our way to the hotel, lingered awhile beside 
the superb equestrian statue of the great Frederick, 
the monarch who bequeathed to Prussia all her glory ! 
Frederick the Second, whose deeds, “ performed in 
the compass of a few years, are sufficient to adorn the 
annals of ages !” 

During our stay in Berlin, we were fortunate in 
being present at a very effective performance of 
La Dame Blanche, at the Friedrich Wilhelms Theater. 
The display of German vocal talent was very con¬ 
siderable ; and the singing of the “ White Lady”— 
Fr n Schroder—and of the tenor, Theodor Wachtel 
—the latter especially in the variations on Robin 
Adair —afforded us a rich musical treat, for which 
we had hardly bargained, even in Berlin. 

We likewise visited the Grand Opera, where we 
saw a ballet performed to what struck me as rather 
indifferent music. Some of the tableaux, in the 
Watteau style, were beautiful; but only ballet is tire¬ 
some, however well presented. I believe there is some 
good comic acting in Berlin. 

One day I found myself observing the breech-load¬ 
ing rifles of the Prussian troops. I am not a strong 
advocate for breech-loading ordnance, large or small. 
To explain why, would not come within the compass 





ST. PETERSBURGH TO BERLIN. 241 

of these “Notes.”" The science of gunnery is, even 
now, only in its infancy. Great strength, length of 
range, and destructive power in guns and muskets will 
occupy the attention of artillerists for years to come. 
Experiment is the only teacher. At present, it is safe 
to he an enemy to sudden innovations—especially in 
countries, like India, kept by the sword—in the all- 
weighty and important matter of ordnance ! The Ve¬ 
netians had breech-loading guns in the sixteenth or 
seventeenth century. The Dutch East India Company 
had pieces of brass ordnance, loading at the breech. 
Breech-loading, therefore, is not a very modern inven¬ 
tion. I should like much to see the new musket, re¬ 
cently invented by a Frenchman, that will require no 
percussion cap ! The Americans, I observe, are put¬ 
ting their rifled Dahlgren guns, for accuracy of aim 
and destructive effects, against our famed Armstrongs ; 
and the Sultan has turned his mind to rifle-shooting ! 
Surely, then, we shall have a good piece of ordnance, 
large or small, at no distant period. The 40 and 100- 
pounder Armstrong, I observe, are coming into exten¬ 
sive use ; but, in ordnance, let us beware of too sudden 
innovations ! Weapons, we see, have what Bacon 
styles “ returns and vicissitudesand it is really sad 
to think of the little progress made in the excellence 
of ordnance, the use of which that great philosopher 
seems assured was known in India and China more 
than two thousand years ago ! At Cologne, during 
the Prussian review of September, 1861, the perform¬ 
ances of the breech-loading rifle—almost entirely the 


R 



242 


NOETHEEN EUEOPE. 


arm of the infantry—were highly spoken of. The best 
range was from GOO to 700 yards. They can fire five 
rounds a minute. It was also remarked that the troops 
could fire a volley at cavalry charging at 100 yards, 
and load and fire a second volley before the troopers 
could reach the line or square !* 

Potsdam, Charlottenburg, and Belleville are all, 
especially the former town, well worthy of a visit. 
Frederick the Great has immortalized Potsdam ; an 
Elector of Saxony,f who had been a traitor to his 
country, was confined in Belleville ; and Charlotten¬ 
burg was the favourite abode—particularly after the 
French revolution of 1848—of the late Frederick Wil¬ 
liam, brother of the present king. He was averse 
to living in the capital after the French commotion. 
Before starting for Potsdam, I may note a good remark, 
that there are no sovereigns of Europe who, in propor¬ 
tion to the extent and wealth of their dominions, “ have 
built so much, and so splendidly, as the monarchs of 
Prussia.” 


Potsdam. 

Potsdam, on a branch of the river Spree, is some 
sixteen or eighteen miles from Berlin; and it is easily 

* This certainly cannot be done with the Enfield rifle—a piece yet 
far from perfection. 

t Before the time of Napoleon, the Elector of Saxony was not a 
German sovereign. After his conquest of Prussia the Emperor 
changed the title to King of Saxony, of which Prussia has now a 
portion. One of Charles the Twelfth’s enemies was the Elector of 
Saxony, King of Poland. The Duchy of Warsaw was lost to Saxony 
in 1814. 


POTSDAM. 


243 


reached by railway. It is a beautiful little town, with 
regular and well-paved streets—the houses built of a 
sort of white freestone, and containing some striking 
public edifices, with various objects of interest. The 
noble palace of Frederick the Great is the grand object 
of attraction. Arriving at an early hour in the fore¬ 
noon, we gave a considerable spabe of time to an inspec¬ 
tion of this gem of a palace, over which we were con¬ 
ducted by a Prussian woman with eyes of an unusual 
blackness, and a tremendous enthusiasm for Friedrich 
Grosse! On observing our delighted surprise, while 
we wandered through the silver and gilded chambers, 
adorned with Watteau’s pictures and other precious 
objects of art, on arriving at any relic dear to 
Prussian memory, she sounded forth the great mo¬ 
narch’s name with a gusto quite refreshing. Here was 
the music he wrote, and there the piano ( spinette ), also 
the flute on which he played; next came his boots— 
then his gloves (handschuhe )—then his snuff-box ( tabac - 
dose )—each relic dearer than the other. I must not 
omit the favourite coffee-service, round which some of 
the most eminent literary men of the day had often 
assembled. Voltaire’s books ; a table at which Napo¬ 
leon had written some famous Decree, and over which 
some ink had been spilt; the rooms of Marie-Louise 
and Napoleon—even the basins and looking-glasses 
which they had used—all these were pointed out to us 
by our indefatigable guide with the lustrous black eyes ! 
The present Prince and Princess Royal of Prussia, too, 
had slept in these chambers so famous in story ! A 

r 2 




244 


NOETHEKN EUKOPE. 


window was pointed out from which they had observed 
a grand review of the troops. The front windows, 
from which Prussia’s greatest monarch had so often 
gazed, look out on the grand square in which such 
exhibitions take place. 

Frederick the Great was the eldest son of Frede¬ 
rick William the First, King of Prussia, and of Sophia 
Dorothea of Hanover, daughter of George the First of 
England. It was his father who formed the regiment 
of gigantic men—sometimes giving a vast sum of mo¬ 
ney for one giant—who was a great miser—who carried 
military discipline to an extent never before attained— 
and who caused the Prussian infantry for a long time 
to be considered the best in Europe. The passion for 
drill in the father extended to the son. With refer¬ 
ence to the drilling passion of Frederick William the 
First, George the Second was accustomed to call him, 
“ My brother, the Corporal of Potsdam !” Like Peter 
the Great, this Frederick was very cruel to his eldest 
son. It was during the latter’s banishment in Pome¬ 
rania that he wrote prose and poetry, and devoted a 
large portion of the day to the flute. Frederick the 
Great succeeded his father in 1741 ; and having 
covered Prussia with glory—in fact having raised it to 
a first-rate power—he died on the 16 th of August, 
1786. The evening before his death, writes Lord 
Dover, he gave the “ countersign to the garrison.” 

We also read that, during his illness, when uncom¬ 
monly languid, they raised his head to the window, and 
a sight of the men at drill or under arms operated on 


POTSDAM. 


245 


him like a cordial, and revived his spirits. The soldier 
who loves his profession may have some pleasant 
thoughts while wandering about the favourite residence 
of Frederick at Potsdam. I must give one more anec¬ 
dote of the great monarch. 

After a famous battle, in which the Austrians 
were signally defeated, on the field were some of his 
own grenadiers sitting near a fire. The night was bit¬ 
terly cold, and the King approached to warm himself. 
“Where were you during the battle?” asked one of 
the grenadiers. They knew he always led them where 
the fire was hottest. The King replied that he had 
remained at the left wing of his army, which had pre¬ 
vented him from being at the head of his own regiment. 
While speaking, the heat of the fire obliged him to 
unbutton his great-coat, and a ball dropped out, which 
he had received in his clothes. Upon observing this, 
the soldiers enthusiastically roared out, while nearly 
embracing their King,—“ You are our own old Fritz ; 
you share in all our dangers with us; we will all die 
for you !” Thus does Frederick, with his cocked 
hat, blue coat with single star, and wise old face, live 
in history ! 

The name of the palace we now left—the Branden¬ 
burg—is taken from the founder of the Prussian mo¬ 
narchy, the Elector of that state, who, in 1701, for 
supporting the Emperor of Germany, was allowed to 
create himself King of Prussia by putting the crown 
on his own head. This Frederick William the First, of 
whom mention has already been made, began his reign 



246 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


in nearly as unsettled times as the present. Leopold 
had an army in Italy to support his claim to Milan. 
The English and Dutch, after fruitless negotiations 
with France, had resolved to support the Emperor. He 
next gained the Elector of Brandenburg; the King 
of Denmark also was ready to aid him. It was the 
father of Frederick William (the Great Elector), how¬ 
ever, who, in 1656, had compelled the King of Poland 
to declare Prussia an independent state ; from which 
act may be dated the first powerful interference of 
Prussia in European politics. They were terrible fel¬ 
lows, these Great Electors ! Lord Macaulay, in his 
famous ‘ Critical and Historical Essays/ has an inter¬ 
esting historical parallel. Alluding to the head of the 
princely house of Oude (in the days of Warren Hast¬ 
ings), when that ruler, though he held the power, did 
not, for fear of the Mahomedans of Delhi, venture to 
use the style of sovereignty, he says, “ To the appella¬ 
tion of Nabob or Viceroy, he added that of Vizier of 
the monarchy of Hindostan, just as in the last century 
the Electors of Saxony and Brandenburg, though inde¬ 
pendent of the Emperor, and often in arms against 
him, were proud to style themselves his Great Cham¬ 
berlain and Grand Marshal.”* 

The gardens at Potsdam have now little to recom¬ 
mend them. The Graces certainly have not taken up 
their abode here. Some handsome pieces of ordnance, 
and two statues in a lake, representing Neptune and 
Amphitrite, were the only objects in them worth seeing. 

* ‘ Essay on Warren Hastings.’ 


POTSDAM. 


247 


From what Flora would have disowned, we turned to 
behold a guard mounting in the grand square. The 
varied uniforms were perfectly dazzling; blue and 
green, gilt and silver helmets—of chasseurs and hus¬ 
sars—and martial music are ever pleasant to see and 
hear. 

A visit to the tomb of Frederick the Great, in an 
adjacent church; another to the market of Potsdam, 
where fruits and vegetables, also wooden clogs of every 
size are sold, by married women with black and white 
head dress,* and by the unmarried whose head orna¬ 
ment is simply the large cotton handkerchief—and an 
inspection of the house, near the palace, in which Vol¬ 
taire lived, which is now occupied by one Hermann, a 
tobacconist, concluded the best part of a very pleasant 
day at the favourite residence of Prussia’s greatest 
monarch. At a small distance from Potsdam is Sans 
Souci , a beautiful and elegant edifice, built by Frederick 
the Great for a summer residence. 

On return to Berlin, we prepared to start for Hano¬ 
ver ; but I cannot leave the Prussian capital, especially 
as it is while transcribing these “ Notes,” (after know¬ 
ing that subscriptions for a German fleet, wished by 
those who were anxious to destroy Denmark, were 
forbidden in Holstein,) I hear of the trading com¬ 
munity of that city only subscribing 13,000 thalers 
(less than 2000Z. sterling) for the Prussian “ Fleet,”f 
without a few remarks of considerable political im- 

* Tied on top with fringes banging down. 

+ Subscription closed in January lb(>2. 



248 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


portance, particularly with reference to the pre¬ 
sent state of affairs in Northern Europe. As I 
shall now take a brief flight into the beginning of 
another year, the narrative must cease for a page or 
two. 

Prussia has a population of nearly eighteen mil¬ 
lions ; a revenue of about twenty millions sterling; a 
debt of about double this sum ; and an army under 
300,000 men. The latest accounts of the kingdom’s 
expenditure show less than a million above the re¬ 
ceipts ; or, expenditure, 140,000,000 thalers , and 
receipts, 135,000,000. To cover this, when com¬ 
pared with other powers, very small deficiency, of 
course there is to be increased taxation. And this 
leads me to think, if in the North of Europe, and in 
Germany, the public have any of “ that very remark¬ 
able willingness to be taxed,” which our eloquent 
Chancellor of the Exchequer, on a recent occasion,* 
ascribed to the British people—deducing therefrom 
that, if such be the true test of civilisation, then “ there 
is no nation upon earth that can compare with the 
people inhabiting the British Isles in point of true 
civilisation.” 

It would be well for Prussia to keep this in mind, 
as with the desire (not popular) to create a navy, but 
above all to keep it up, the inconvenience of “ fluc¬ 
tuation” in all matters of finance (to which the Chan¬ 
cellor also alluded on the same occasion) may soon be 

* In Edinburgh, 11th of January, at the meeting of the Endow¬ 
ment Association of the Episcopal Church of Scotland. 


MYSTERIOUS PRUSSIA. 


249 


felt by that power, and which, without any political or 
other object gained, may hurt the position of Prussia 
in Europe. It appears to be the grand difficulty 
among nations of the present day, as it is also among 
individuals, to live within their incomes. Prussia, at 
present, in this respect, is quite an example to other 
powers; but the future may not be so bright if she 
does not change her policy. Alluding to the German 
question, occasionally touched on in these pages, we 
are told by some that every power that interferes 
with or opposes the “ peaceable, lawful, and organic 
settlement ” of the German question, “ any power 
that persistently hampers Prussia in her endeavours 
to make the King of Denmark do justice to his Ger¬ 
man subjects in Holstein and Schleswig, cannot be 
considered as friendly.” Favouring 4 ‘the factious 
demand ” of the Polish nobility for the dismember¬ 
ment of the Prussian kingdom, is the crime next to 
this in importance; and then silence is to be pre¬ 
served about the “ isolation ” of Prussia in matters of 
tremendous moment,—as that “isolation” is Jo last 
as long as may be convenient. And again, Prussia, 
“ with a dowry of 600,000 bayonets,” need not go 
about begging for alliances! What does all this 
mean ? As far as that “key-stone ” of German unity, 
the Schleswig and Holstein affair, is concerned, the 
King of Denmark seems to have shown the old 
Danish spirit of independence, when he remarked 
(25th January, 1862), in his opening speech to the 
Rigsraad (or Council of State of Denmark), that 


250 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


it was the intention of his Government to grant 
Schleswig “ provincial estates on a popular basis, as 
soon as he should feel assured that the duchy was 
safe (as one public organ has it) “from the imperti¬ 
nent interference of the Frankfort Diet.” The idea 
appears to be more than ever gaining ground of grant¬ 
ing an independent position to Holstein, and ren¬ 
dering Denmark and Schleswig independent of the 
Germanic Diet. The national liberal party, in every 
country, must eventually triumph. In Denmark, in 
1848, this was the Danish opinion. In 1858, the 
King tells us in his last speech, “ the common con¬ 
stitution was withdrawn from Holstein and Lauen- 
burg.” He then expressed a hope that connection 
with the Duchies might soon be restored; but the 
resistance of the Estates of Holstein and of the 
Federal Diet, prevented his hopes being realized. Ne¬ 
gotiations are being continued; and the King seems 
assured of the interest which “ foreign powers ” have 
in the independence of Denmark. To ensure Schles¬ 
wig in* particular against “ foreign intervention,” a 
very significant remark was made at the next sitting 
of the Rigsraad , that the votes of supply for 1862-3 
“ include large sums for the navy.” 

Let Prussia, then, remain content with being a 
first-class military power, worthy of the land of 
Frederick, without endeavouring to become a third 
or fourth class naval one, which may reflect discredit 
on a kingdom in whose annals shine so many deeds 
of military renown. 


RUSSIAN PROGRESS. 


251 


While we have so many proofs of Danish progress, 
Russia has published a budget for 1862 ! The recent 
conduct of the latter empire shows quite a revolution 
in that lone, dark, and secluded portion of Northern 
Europe; but it must be evident to every rational 
thinker that, as General Suwarrow remarked, at the 
recent assembly of the nobles, # “the welfare of the 
nobility is not possible unless a close alliance ex¬ 
ists between them and the Emperor. 5 ’ In Russia 
there are yet important matters to be settled.f But, 
again turning to Prussia, where no emancipation of 
serfs, or such like measures producing difficulties ever 
existed, at Berlin we have the King telling the Prus¬ 
sian army, at the commencement of 1862, that the 
new year has “ a serious aspect, because the state of 
things in Germany, in Europe, and in fact the whole 


* January 28, 1862.— St. Petersburgh , Jan. 29. A note was pub¬ 
lished, dated 21st instant, addressed to the Russian ambassador at 
Washington, stating the satisfaction of the Emperor at the determi¬ 
nation of the Federal Government to deliver up Messrs. Slidell and 
Mason. 

f While concluding these “ Notes” on Northern Europe, I cannot 
omit alluding to the Russian respect evinced towards the memory of 
the late Prince Consort. Prussia had lost the father of the wife of a 
probable future monarch—Sweden one of the most illustrious Knights 
of the Seraphim. Russia laments simply for a friend of progress! 
A letter from St. Petersburgh informed us that the sad intelligence 
produced a most painful impression, not only on the English residents, 
but also on the Russians. In a Russian tribute to his memory, 
alluding to his tact, the ‘Journal de St. Petersburgh’ says, “The 
Prince had a noble heart and a great mind. Standing upon the 
highest step of the throne, he held a place which the institutions 
of the three kingdoms could, under the circumstances, make a diffi¬ 
cult one.” 


252 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


world, presents certain eventualities, the possible de¬ 
velopment of which renders it our duty to be pre¬ 
pared, and to stand united together.” Again, after 
the above, at the opening of the Prussian Chambers 
at Berlin (on the 14th of January), His Majesty 
dwelt on the happy issue of the Anglo-American 
difficulty, remarking also on his interview in 1861 
with the Emperor of the French having had the 
effect of placing Prussia and France upon a more 
intimate footing. He touched on the “ negotiations ” 
for the regulation of commerce between these coun¬ 
tries; and showed that his grand aim was to pre¬ 
pare the way for the “ uniform military organiza¬ 
tion of all the German States, to care for the de¬ 
fence of the German seaboard, and to develope the 
national fleet.” 

With regard to the commercial treaty between 
Germany and France, let us beware of the carrying 
out of such a treaty proving in any way injurious to 
the interests of English commerce. 

A German correspondent, writing from Breslau 
in the middle of January, affirms that, with reference 
to the precedence in the Confederation, a suggestion 
has been made by the press that this precedence, 
which hitherto belonged to Austria, should be con¬ 
ceded alternately to Prussia and Austria. He says 
also, what I fully believe, that the Germans are ready 
to state that, not caring much about the Confedera¬ 
tion, it is all one to them who presides. The Prussian 


GERMAN UNITY. 


253 


monarch, with an eye to keeping his Ehine provinces, 
will, very properly, not reduce the efficiency of his 
army. Doubtless the Germans are bent on being 
one nation under some popular constitution yet to 


come. 


254 


IX. 

HANOVER—A WATERLOO HERO—HOME. 

“ Here is my journey’s end, here is my butt, 

And very sea-mark of my utmost sail.”— Othello. 

“-To London all; 

And more such days as these to us befall! ”—King Henry VI. 

From the frozen climates of the ancient Scythia, to 
the land of Frederick and “ old Blucher,” had been 
an interesting journey. We were now ready at the 
Berlin station, about to leave for Hanover, hoping to 
meet at least some pleasant people by the w T ay, and 
inspect a capital I had long desired to see. I think it 
is the Marquis de Custine who was told that two 
years’ residence in the country were required to know 
and be able to write about things Russian. This I 
believe with regard to any country is true, as far as 
detailed accounts of society and manners are con¬ 
cerned ; hut, at the same time, there is a class of 
people who, if they stay in a place seven years, having 
neither power of, nor inclination for, observation, are 
able to tell less about what they have seen and heard 
than many an energetic traveller whose visit extends 
to only seven weeks ! Eyes right, left, and front, 
without , and an untiring mind within , are the chief 




HANOVEU. 


255 


requisites for a would-be great traveller. Also, in 
meeting men who are well-informed, and willing to 
communicate, lies a grand essential towards a suc¬ 
cessful literary attempt at a narrative after a brief 
visit. 

The Hanoverian consul gave us no trouble about 
our passports. In short, these are very easily man¬ 
aged matters now. Englishmen travelling in Holland 
no longer require passports, and the Danish and Swe¬ 
dish parliaments were considering “projects of law,” 
intended to enable the citizens of every country which 
reciprocates the concession, to pass free through the 
dominions of the Kings of Denmark and Sweden. 
The French Emperor also had decided upon extending 
to Belgian and Dutch travellers “ the immunity from 
the application of the passport system recently con¬ 
ceded to British and Swedish subjects.” 

Leaving Berlin at 8 p.m., we arrived in Hanover 
about 2 o’clock next morning, having had, as a compa¬ 
nion passenger, a very talkative Briton, who had re¬ 
turned from Baden-Baden, and who, with good humour, 
related to us some details concerning a certain Russian 
who had “broken the bank” there, to the astonishment 
of all the gambling fraternity assembled. I should like 
to see some statistics of the number of suicides caused 
by that detestable vice which makes man a greater 
slave than all the drivers in slave-holding America 
could accomplish. 

We are in Hanover ; a kingdom with a population 
of upwards of 1,800,000; a revenue of upwards of 


256 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


2,800,00(V. ; a debt of upwards of six millions sterling ; 
and an army of nearly 27,000 men. Hanover, the 
capital, contains nearly 62,000 souls. Electors of 
Germany were so called from all the members of the 
Germanic body, originally, making choice of their own 
head. Hanover became the ninth electorate in 1692. 
At the beginning of the present century it was seized 
by Prussia ; next occupied by the French ; eventually 
regained to England by the Crown Prince of Sweden 
(Bernadotte) in 1813; and made a kingdom in Octo¬ 
ber, 1814. Ernest Augustus, related to James the 
First of England,* was the first Elector of Hanover. 
The country is level and somewhat barren, and on 
its south-eastern border there is a remarkable moun¬ 
tain chain, called the Hartz. When, in 1714, the 
Elector became George the First, King of Great Britain, 
Hanover remained attached till Queen Victoria’s acces¬ 
sion ; then, “ as it could not be governed by a female, 
her uncle, Ernest-Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, 
succeeded to the throne.”f 

The palace, the royal stables, and the Waterloo 
monument, are the chief objects of interest in this well- 
built and picturesque capital. Hanover, also, has long 
been famous for its theatre. It is a thorough military 
station, and here and there reminds one of the large 
cantonments in India. We commenced a day’s amuse¬ 
ment, as in duty bound, with a visit to a Waterloo 


* Having married his grand-daughter. 

t The present sovereign is George V., who succeeded his father 
November 18th, 1851; 


A WATERLOO HERO. 


257 


hero, whose son, in school-boy days, had been one of 
my companions. The general, our hero, was now the 
chief British officer in Hanover ; and had made his first 
step to fame in the “ battle of giants.” 

His brother, at Waterloo, commanded that splendid 
brigade which consisted of the thirtieth and seventy- 
third regiments, on which square the French- artillery 
and cuirassiers paid more frequent and tremendous 
visits than on most of the others. The enemy were 
repeatedly driven off; the storm soon gathered and 
rolled on again; but “form square,and prepare to receive 
cavalry !” was promptly obeyed, till two-tliirds of that 
gallant brigade were cut down. This bravery of our 
hero’s brother drew forth the strongest admiration of 
the “Iron Duke.” And now for an instance of indi¬ 
vidual heroism which relates entirely to the object of 
our visit, and which he related to us, in so modest a 
manner (and that, after the question being put to him, 
if he was the man ?) that I could hardly believe I was 
before one of nearly the last of the famed Waterloo 
heroes. Fie commanded a Hanoverian corps ; and, 
seeing a French general (Cambron) giving orders to a 
large body of troops in the most confident manner, 
dashed at him at full gallop, pulled him off bis horse, 
and brought him off a prisoner under the very noses of 
the French troops ! The story is also told in another 
wa y —that our hero put a pistol to Cambron’s breast, 
“ seized his horse’s reins,” and brought his prisoner 
off! 

The great Wellington’s terrible anxiety regarding 

s 


258 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


the fate of the battle,—the exhaustion of the British 
troops covered with glory,—the Chief’s “ Would to 
God that night or Blucher were come !”—his joy on 
at length hearing the Prussian cannonade—and his 
famous remark, “ There goes old Blucher at last!”— 
All these “ memories ” might well come to the mind 
of a soldier when visiting a Waterloo hero, at Hanover, 
especially when he considered how many thousands of 
Prussians and Germans had fallen in aiding us to win 
the decisive battle which secured the peace of Europe ! 

In 1849, the gallant officer above mentioned com¬ 
manded a division of troops against the Danes, when 
an endeavour was then made to bring about a settle¬ 
ment of the Schleswig-Holstein question.* While thus 
serving, on one occasion he was shot at by a Dane, and 
his life, I believe, was eventually saved by a Prussian 
officer. Mounting his horse, the fine old general (who 
carried out my idea of what Dry den styles a “ green 
old age ”) accompanied us a portion of the way, while 
we proceeded to take a drive about Hanover. And 
here we most respectfully take farewell of the Water¬ 
loo hero ! 

We were soon travelling through Belgium; and, 


* “In a convention entered into with Austria, Prussia, and the 
German Confederacy but a few years ago, the distinct promise w^as 
tendered by Denmark to place the Danish and Holstein Representa¬ 
tive Assemblies upon one and the same level of right in all matters of 
common import. It was in consequence of this obligation that Schles¬ 
wig-Holstein was at last handed over by the German generals to the 
Danes, who of themselves had been incapable of occupying the duchies 
by force of arms.”— Anti-Danish Pamphlet , London , 1861. See also 
Appendix, No. V. 



HOME. 


259 


after paying a visit to Malines and Bruges—famed, 
they say, for cathedrals, lace, and pretty girls—we 
steamed out of Ostend, bound for Dover. The passage 
was an unusually rough one. The anger of iEolus 
seemed to have been pent up for the occasion, and 
discharged with terrible fury on our Belgian steamer 
as she bravely struggled on to reach the firm old 
English ground! This event may be styled the 
“butt” of my narrative ; and now to London; and 
next to that dear place which Britons prize above 
all others—“home!”—where I shall not forget our 
visit to Northern Europe ; but, 

“ While the wind blusters and the driving rain 
Drenches without, shall I recall to mind 
The scenes, occurrences, I met with there!” 


HANOYER, THE GERMAN NAVY, AND STADE DUES, 

IN 1861. 

P.S .—A word or two on the importance of the Hanoverian territory- 
on the Elbe, in a political as well as in a commercial point of view. 
Already possessing the most celebrated Protestant University (at Got¬ 
tingen) of Germany, the little kingdom seemed, in 1861, with laudable 
British ambition, desirous of creating the navy. Nearly two-thirds of 
the present kingdom are by some writers considered to be the parts 
of Germany wdience, in addition to Holstein, the Anglo-Saxons mi¬ 
grated to England. These were the days when adventurers were seen 
from every part of the sea-board, “from Holland to Holstein, and 
from every part of the lower banks of each German river from the 
Rhine to the Eyder,” joining the squadrons from the Elbe, about to 
visit the British isles, and plant the Anglian and Saxon standard there. 
Fourteen hundred years after this migration, nearly 3000 vessels 
passed Stade, to reach the free port of Hamburg; but only one small 
ship of war, in front of that little town, represented the Hanoverian 
navy! I have alluded to the enterprise of Bremen, in 1861, in the 
matter of a German fleet. The people were to pay, in the interior of 

s 2 



260 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


Germany, two silvergroschen per head ; and, in the Hanse Towns, twelve 
silvergroschen (about one shilling). While naval enthusiasm was at 
its height in Bremen and Hamburg, the Hanoverian Government took 
the opportunity of proposing that the command of ships of war in the 
North Sea should be given to Hanover instead of to Prussia! At this 
time, also, a probable increase in the Austrian fleet was talked of. A 
little time passed over; and, towards the end of the year, the Ger¬ 
manic Diet re-assembled at Frankfort, when Hanover presented her 
famous project for the defence of the coasts and the creation of a 
German navy, “ a project which,” says one writer, “ would deprive 
Prussia of the direction of the movement in favour of the fleet.” Han¬ 
over, then, has the consolation of having endeavoured well; and no 
share of that derision to which, at present, the tiny fleet seems doomed, 
can ever fall on the brave little kingdom ! I think it has been noted 
that, on passing Stade, all ships paid toll, or “ Stade dues,” to Hanover. 
In October, 1861, the treaty concluded with Hanover, for the aboli¬ 
tion of the Stade dues, had been ratified by Great Britain, Brazil, Bel¬ 
gium, Holland, Portugal, Hamburg, Prussia, Austria, and Russia. 
These powers had become entirely free of the liability to pay the dues, 
with other privileges. Arrangements with France, Sweden, Denmark, 
and Lubeck were nearly concluded. With regard to the “United 
States,” and. the new kingdom of Italy, I am not sure of any agree¬ 
ment having been arrived at; but, in the former case, it was mentioned 
that the Government of the North American Confederation had in¬ 
structed its minister at Berlin to enter into communication with 
Hanover on the conditions agreed to by the other powers. 


261 


X. 

SUPPLEMENTARY SECTION. 

From February to May, 1862. 

“ When the earthquake of the nations heaves, 

The waters roar in wild collision’s dash, 

And tyrant tower and bigot temple crash; 

Peace rears her Crystal Palace in the west, 

The various fruits of Industry receives, 

And leads the feverish world to grateful rest.” 

From Sonnet to Sir Joseph Faxton , 1851. 

On concluding the foregoing pages, among various 
subjects of great importance two were noticed in the 
public journals, which, as connected with Sweden and 
Denmark, and likely to bring on great events now or 
hereafter, may here be briefly alluded to. Sweden, it 
has already been remarked, carries on a large iron 
trade with the Southern States of America. The 
much talked of blockade, therefore, by the Norther¬ 
ners, it was reported early in February, 1862, inflicted 
too great an injury on her commerce not to make 
Sweden desire to see the blockade at an end. The 
Swedish minister had undertaken to prove the in¬ 
sufficiency of the blockade to the Federal Government. 
The great Federal victory at Fort Donelson, on the 


262 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


16th February, for the time, swallowed up the interest 
attached to the subject. But what if we should one 
day hear of second-rate European states, like Spain 
and Sweden, having a little commercial war in the 
New World of their own ? The Danish and Swedish 
ministers, doubtless, have an eye to their own in¬ 
terests in America. 

Next, turning from such subjects as Russia and 
Prussia acknowledging or not the kingdom of Italy, 
the emancipation of the serfs in the land of the Czar, 
and the consequent discontent of the nobles, together 
with the liberality of the Russian Government,—we 
read of a “ Protest of the Schleswig Estates/’ as re¬ 
gards Denmark and Northern Europe generally, a 
most important political act. The Protest, dated 
Berlin, March 5th, contains the signatures of the ma¬ 
jority of the members of the Schleswig Estates. The 
document denies the competence of the assembled 
Rigsraad (Council of State), and protests against the 
validity of all the solutions which it has passed “ up 
to the present, or which it may adopt in future re¬ 
specting Schleswig.” The remarks on the Schles¬ 
wig-Holstein question in the body of this work are 
but brief. Still, as it is said that no Englishman pre¬ 
tends to understand the mysteries of this question,—• 
the popular instincts, however, not being on the side 
of Germany,—should the reader wish to come nearer 
an understanding of it, he will find some interesting 
matter at the end of the Appendix, to which he has 
been already referred. And if desirous of eschewing 




SUPPLEMENTARY SECTION. 


263 


what Sheridan styles “ rascally politics,” perhaps he 
may have cried “Hold, enough!” after concluding 
the first section. But as nearly every sensible man, 
now-a-days, has his political “ say,” as well as his 
newspaper, I shall run the risk of being considered 
tedious, by again touching on some of the history 
of the above question, afterwards passing on rapidly 
to a variety of other subjects, in chronological order, 
if possible. 

Fourteen years ago it was written that the Diet, 
or Parliament, at Frankfort, was to do everything 
next to impossible, or to collect all the fragments of 
Germany into one coherent mass. The King of Prussia, 
then, assumed extraordinary power, and must fain 
seize on the so-called German provinces (Schleswig 
and Holstein) belonging to Denmark ; and thus a 
foolish war took place. France and England inter¬ 
vened ; Sweden preserved a noble attitude during the 
storm; and peace was soon proclaimed. But the 
Diet had evidently assumed the power of claiming 
whatever they think to be German; and there is no 
saying where such ambition will end. 

A Danish note was despatched from Copenhagen 
to the German Government, upon the 12th March. 
Of this a detailed analysis was given in the Dagblades 
(Danish ‘Times?’) of the 17th. Regarding certain 
negotiations being carried on, it was resolved that 
they must leave the question of Schleswig untouched, 
as matters which are unquestionably international 
and “ without the province of the German Federation, 


264 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


would otherwise be mixed up with a question which 
Europe regards as exclusively German.” It would 
not do to confound the Schleswig with the Holstein 
question; but should Germany do so, “Denmark 
would he forced, in the event of Federal execution 
being applied to Schleswig, to regard such execution 
as a casus belliJ ’ 

The Danish Government, also, in reply to the note 
of the German Diet, objected to any discussion upon 
the affairs of Schleswig, or upon the competency of the 
Rigsraad , but, at the same time, expressed its readiness 
to listen to any objections to its propositions for the 
settlement of the relations of Holstein. 

A popular traveller mentions a striking novelty 
which the latter duchy presents to a stranger. I 
think it is Dr. Clarke who tells us of the loud and 
incessant chorus of frogs, myriads of frogs, perform¬ 
ing there. The Holstein croak is a tremendous one ; 
and such performers have received the name of Hol¬ 
stein Nightingales! Let us hope the tine old duchy 
may not be troubled with croakers of a more serious 
description. 

The month of March was important in matters of 
science, commerce, and politics. There was the test¬ 
ing of the renowned Armstrong gun, in which three 
100-pounder guns, subjected to proof, were consider¬ 
ably damaged, the defects being, it was said, the sepa¬ 
ration of the coils forming the breech part, which 
yielded. Then from India came the news that the 
Government purposed erecting a second telegraph 


SUPPLEMENTARY SECTION. 


265 


wire between Calcutta and Bombay, in consequence 
of the large amount of traffic on the present line 
between the two cities. The Prussian Chamber of 
Deputies was dissolved; a general election was soon to 
take place, and it was probable that the new Chamber 
would assemble in May. ‘The Times’ considered 
the dissolution of the Chambers by the King of Prus¬ 
sia very doubtful policy. He should have made some 
concessions. But now would come a new election 
with the question of the national expenditure. The 
Deputies, in their address to the people, declared that 
they had scarcely any control over the expenditure. 
They wished a greater particularity in the budget; 
they did not wish the constitutional right of the 
people to “ become a sham.” It was most essen¬ 
tial at the present time that “ the items of the war 
budget should be particularized.” In conclusion, the 
dissolved Deputies resolved to await, “with a quiet 
conscience, the judgment of the country.” 

Such an address, doubtless, formed an unusual 
subject of interest to the Kings of Denmark and Swe¬ 
den ! And now what was Russia about ? As out of 
every insurrection important contingencies may arise, 
so out of the Greek one it was thought that the over¬ 
throw of King Otho might suit the ambitious views of 
Russia with reference to the East. 

Negotiations were said to be going on between 
Paris and St. Petersburgh respecting certain arrange¬ 
ments. Taking this as mere rumour, it was really 
believed that Russia was not unwilling to improve the 


26G 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


disturbances in Greece to her own advantage. What 
her designs in the east of Europe are, no one can tell. 
But, assuredly, the less Russia is allowed to interfere 
with the affairs of Greece the better. The Czar has 
enough on his hands. A feeling regarding him has 
before been alluded to; but I hardly expected to read 
that the most humane and liberal ruler ever possessed 
by Russia had been recommended, in the Assembly of 
Nobles, at Moscow, to abdicate in favour of his son. 
The motion was fortunately defeated. 

Proceeding with the political events in March, 
chiefly as affecting Northern Europe, we find the King 
of Prussia publishing a proclamation to his ministry 
with “ something like the air of a despot,”—defending 
the policy which he has hitherto carried out,—“ espe¬ 
cially to Germany.” The crisis in Prussia was becoming 
serious. 

The proclamation of “ Wilhelm ” was counter¬ 
signed by all the ministers. The King would be Con¬ 
servative, but must be Liberal. Germany and the 
Baltic, towards the end of the month, have all the 
interest attached to them in the facts of influential 
people drawing back who were inclined to concede the 
leadership of the German people, under a reformed 
system, to the King of Prussia. 

The subscriptions for a German fleet had not yet 
been paid over to the Prussian Government; and new 
notes had been forwarded from Copenhagen to the 
Austrian and Prussian Courts. Their main object was 
a refusal to recognize any right which the German 


SUPPLEMENTARY SECTION. 


267 


Confederation may assume to interfere in the affairs 
of Schleswig. When affairs at Berlin, Vienna, and 
Frankfort, were more settled, the German-Danish 
question would become of significant importance,— 
perhaps only second to Garibaldi’s promised delivery 
of “Rome and Venice !” 

Iron-cased ships of war became the grand theme 
of discussion in April. Early in the month a French 
commercial paper calculated that it would require 
1,250,000 tons of iron to plate the war-ships of the 
various powers. On the 8th, the Rigsraad, at Copen¬ 
hagen, voted the credit of one million rigsdaler asked 
by the Minister of Marine for an iron-plated vessel. 
In Prussia a project for a loan of 12,000,000 thalers 
(nearly two millions sterling) for naval purposes was 
to be presented to the Chamber of Deputies in May. 
The money would be applied to the construction of 
two iron-plated frigates, and others of smaller size— 
the frigates costing from 3,000,000 to 4,000,000thalers. 
The latter ships would, perhaps, be built in England. 
It was thought that if such a statement should prove 
correct, Denmark might be expected in the money 
market with a similar object; and, again, if capitalists 
approved of such an investment, there was every 
chance of soon beholding ‘ Merrimacs ’ and 4 Monitors * 
in the Baltic ! 

Now that nations are encasing ships, like the 
knights of old, in armour, the questions come to be, 
Where, and in .what condition are they vulnerable ? 
For no one, even in this scientific age, would fail to 


268 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


agree with the Prince de Joinville, who is said to be 
hostile to the idea of invulnerable iron-plated frigates. 
In this coming Naval revolution, Ordnance is destined 
to play a mighty part. Projecting prows of certain 
batteries* rendering some iron ships pregnable under 
water, may be employed. The piece of ordnance may 
be a 12-ton 300-pounder Armstrong gun, the shots 
from which, it is said, if they struck an iron frigate at 
the water-line, would sink her in half-an-hour ! The 
end of the problem must be simply this. As the con¬ 
struction of ships of war increases in strength, so 
must the power of artillery increase to destroy them ! 
From certain recent experiments it has now been shown 
that even fifteen inches of metal are an insufficient 
protection against ordnance of a first-rate description, 
at close ranges. Of the new wrought-iron smooth-bore 
Armstrong, therefore, with a 50 lb. charge of powder, 
which brings about such a result, to say nothing of 
the rifle-bore, one cannot speak too highly. But still 
we are only progressing in gunnery. Looking back 
to Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, who invented the 
short light-gun with large calibre and small charge, 
afterwards improved and brought out as the carronade 
by Miller (the original projector of the steamboat), 
whose chamber for the piece may have given the idea 
to Gomer, who flourished long after,—leaving Robins, 
the “ father of modern gunnery,” with his initial 
velocity, and many of our scientific countrymen their 
fair share of merit for invention or improvement,—we 

* “ Either of the Stevens battery or of the new Admiralty ship.” 


SUPPLEMENTARY SECTION. 


2G9 


cannot but think that, since the death of the hero of 
Lutzen, up to within the last few years, our progress 
in gunnery has been slow and unsatisfactory. 

I shall conclude these, perhaps, rather too profes¬ 
sional remarks in a work of this nature, with the hope 
that the genius of Armstrong and Whitworth—their 
guns, I believe, figure in the Exhibition, as if to 
show that the art of war, brought to perfection, is 
the best security for peace—may yet achieve more 
for their country in military and naval ordnance. 

Many distinguished men have interested me in the 
history of the northern nations. The death of Count 
Nesselrode, # the repressor of free thought, and the 
“ evil genius of Russia,” has caused me to think over 
that ruinous system of policy which he pursued, and 
which can never flourish again in Northern Europe. 
His father was of a German family (like many public 
men of Russia), and rose as an ambassador in the 
service of the Empress Catherine. Young Nesselrode 
began life in the army; but soon became a diploma¬ 
tist, and was with Alexander and Napoleon at the 
memorable Tilsit interview. He was a good deal 
feared as a subtle politician during the recent Cri¬ 
mean war. Perhaps, after all, he taught the Emperor 
Nicholas the famous saying ascribed to the Czar, 
“ The best diplomacy is a good army.” Negotiations 
between Rome and Russia have for some time been 
going on for the reception by Russia of a Papal 
Nuncio at St. -Petersburg!!. These have signally 


* March, 1862, aged ninety. 


270 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


failed; the Emperor prudently insisting that the 
Nuncio should maintain his relations with the Bus- 
sian clergy through the Minister of Public Worship. 
Truly this is an age when history finds many paral¬ 
lels. There cannot be two kings at Borne; neither 
can there be the Pope’s own Nuncio and the Deputy 
of the Emperor Alexander at St. Petersburgh. The 
Greek Catholic and the Boman Catholic Churches are 
essentially under a different government. 

And while we are thinking of the difference be¬ 
tween the value of a resisting medium of rolled and 
battered iron, with a view to iron plates for war, 
Peace tries one of her many plans for supremacy on 
earth in the strange proposal of the abolition of slavery 
in America on the plan originated by President Lin¬ 
coln, and the working out of Alexander’s scheme for 
the extermination of serfdom* in Bussia, coming upon 
the world at the same time. There is more in all 
this, and in many other present and coming events, 
than we “dream of in our philosophy.” Bright days 
also for Bussia and Poland, and for classic Italy, 
appear to be coming together,—all, as it were, the 
foreshadowing of “ Peace on Earth—Good will 
towards men.” On the 25th August, 1862, the 
1000th anniversary of the foundation of the Bussian 
Empire, it is probable that reforms and changes will 
be proclaimed in Russia which may convert the old 

* Some nobles possessed 100,000 serfs. Taking each at 300 rubles 
(1250 fr.), the loss which emancipation will occasion to the owners 
cannot be inferior to 28,750,000,000 fr. 



SUPPLEMENTARY SECTION. 


271 


autocratic regime into a constitutional government. 
It is likewise asserted that political reforms in Poland 
will also be proclaimed. Russia making a call on 
European capital, which, from the scrupulousness 
with which she has always fulfilled her engagements, 
and having gained the confidence of European capi¬ 
talists, she may get well responded to; the Franco- 
Prussian Commercial Treaty, a principal event of the 
day in Austria, Prussia, and the rest of Germany, are 
among the most recent political events of importance. 
Regarding this treaty, public opinion asserts that 
Austria has long wished to direct the commercial 
policy of Central Europe ; the Franco-Prussian treaty 
‘ 4 will render this impossible.” The means of expel¬ 
ling Austria from Germany, some say, are presented 
by this treaty; and as she ..can never hold Venetia 
while Victor Emmanuel is King at Rome, Austria has 
work before her if she would keep her place as a first- 
rate power. # But still there are many who wmuld 
not like to see Prussia at the head of Germany; and 
among these, I may say, are the Scandinavian nations. 

Emerging from this chaos, and winding up my 
section, I proceed to remark that the reader will have 
found the career of the late Viceroy of India briefly 
alluded to in a conversation with the old Norwegian 
Consul, wdio figures at the commencement of this 
work; and who, I trust, as he desired, was present to 
view the complete success of the opening of our Inter- 

* I observe that the Emperor Francis Joseph has resolved to esta¬ 
blish ministerial responsibility to the Reichsrath. 


272 


NOETIIEEN EUEOPE. 


national Exhibition on the 1st of May. But not the 
Crown Prince of Prussia, not Prince Oscar of Sweden, 
not the Commissioners from Denmark, Russia, Swe¬ 
den, and Norway, all of whom were present at the 
impressive pageant, had ever read, in the eventful 
histories of the lands of their birth, of anything to be 
compared with the rise and progress of that splendid 
dominion, the “ great pacificator” of which, or, we 
may say, the East, had unexpectedly landed at Dover 
on the 26th of April, 1862, to receive, when the fact 
was known, the welcome due to a potentate whose 
policy had won back to us what Clive had conquered, 
what Warren Hastings, the Marquis Wellesley, and 
others, had consolidated, and what, by the terrible 
Mutiny, we had well nigh lost. One of the greatest 
changes of this century occurred during the late 
Viceroyalty, by which a mighty and able class of 
public servants, civil and military, who had some¬ 
times been entrusted with power equal to that of 
European sovereigns and statesmen, and which had 
given us such men as Munro, Malcolm, Metcalfe, 
Elphinstone, Burnes, Lawrence, Outram, and Neill, 
was entirely delivered over to the Crown,—a class 
which, perhaps, (in the eloquent words of a great 
living authority, take it for all in all), “ has never 
been equalled upon earth ! ” 

While British rule in India has, apparently, been 
placed on a firm basis,—if such can ever be the case 
with so much Mahomedan and Mahratta material in 
the country,—it is pleasing to observe the steady pro- 



SUPPLEMENTARY SECTION. 


273 


gress of railway communication in Hindustan. Sci¬ 
ence, which should ever go hand-in-hand with pure 
religion, has struck a decisive blow at idolatry; and 
Lord Canning departed as he heard the awe-struck 
Brahman exclaim, on his beholding the mighty “fire- 
horse: ”—“All the incarnations of all the gods of 
India have never produced a thing like that.”* While 
the Persians are said to be advancing on Herat, the 
“ Key of India ” gives way to the interest excited by 
the Great Exhibition, and all thoughts of Russia 
assisting Persia are lost in the beautiful objects laid 
out in the “ Indian Court.” Shawls and scarves and 
gorgeous jewellery at once suggest “ the splendour 
and havoc of the East.” 

But, turning from Indian silks, needlework, and 
“steel inlaid with gold,” and coming to the Courts of 
the Northern nations of Europe, we find that Russia 
has displayed noble vases, unsurpassed in size, taste, 
and workmanship. The latter are said to have a finer 
appearance than the porcelain vases from Berlin ex¬ 
hibited by the Crown Prince of Prussia. Denmark 
and Sweden, I read, are on the same line with the 
Belgian and Dutch courts; while, on the opposite 
side (as if politically significant), “joining with France, 
is the entrance to the Italian court.” As an artil¬ 
leryman, I shall, no doubt, when opportunity presents, 
gaze with interest on the “ beautiful trophy” of the 
small-arms manufacturers of Birmingham, as well as 

* The railway from Umritsur to Lahore, which excited unbounded 
astonishment among the native population, had just been opened. 

T 


274 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


on the heavier weapons of destruction and slaughter 
before alluded to; but it will be under the impres¬ 
sion that, through the continual working of military 
science, the high state of excellence of our regular 
army, the wise and bold statesmanship of our minis¬ 
ters, and the undeniable excellence of our volunteers, 
Peace has thus been enabled to rear her Industrial 
Palace in the west. 


Note.— Here I shall say a word or two with reference to hostili¬ 
ties between Persia and the country of Host Mahomed. A. reported 
concentration of Persian troops on the frontiers of Afglianistaun,—the 
Persians masters of Furrah, and the consequent fall of Herat, as the 
former town is one hundred and fifty miles to the eastward towards 
Candahar, to which important post the enemy were next said to be in 
full march,—the energy of the aged Ameer, Host Mahomed, declaring 
his resolution to wrest Herat from Sultan Ahmed Jan, or “ die be¬ 
neath its walls,”—all give Central Asia an unlooked-for interest at the 
present time. In Parliament it has been declared that no official in¬ 
telligence had been received of the march upon Herat; so it is pro¬ 
bable that the exaggerations of native writers may have coloured the 
picture of affairs. Still, Herat fallen or not,—the annexation policy 
of the Host causing a desire among discontented chiefs to regain their 
lost territories,—the “ complications ” that must inevitably ensue upon 
the aged Ameer’s death,—the rumoured movements in Central Asia 
may be prudently taken as “ events ” casting their “ shadows before.’’ 
Not Herat, but the “Bolan Pass,” it is asserted, is the key to our 
possessions in India. From this position, “ a mere handful of men, 
with all the latest military improvements, with Peshawur, Scinde, and 
Kohat in their possession, with steamers on the Indus and railways 
leading to the sea, might drive back the armies of the world ! ” We 
may, therefore, look for “ a new Thermopylae” in this quarter one of 
those days, should any power, European or Asiatic, dare to invade 
British India !—(May 27th, 1862.) 



275 


NOTES, CHIEFLY SCIENTIFIC. 

While my work was going through the press, a re¬ 
markable pamphlet was lent me, touching on subjects 
ol the greatest interest, and particularly on one or two 
brought forward in the Supplementary Section. The 
date of the pamphlet is 1813 ; and the “ Letter from 

- to His Friend in London,” of which it consists, 

makes the brochure as important as it is rare. Al¬ 
though half-a-century old, still a few remarks I shall 
here cite may not be without their value at the present 
time. 

The letter chiefly embodies the conversation of one 
of the most able and scientific men of the last cen¬ 
tury,—one who had long experimented for the im¬ 
provement of cannon and musketry, and also with a 
view to the improvement of naval architecture. Con¬ 
versing on public affairs, regarding the war in which 
we were then engaged as “ the most extraordinary and 
the most critical ever known,” and looking upon the 
war with Russia as a preliminary and necessary step 
to the conquest of Britain, he seems convinced that 
the latter act would have been accomplished, had all 
gone well with Bonaparte. “ Notwithstanding his 
want of trade and commerce in France diminished the 

t 2 



276 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


number of seamen in that kingdom, he would have 
added to them the seamen of Russia, Sweden, Den¬ 
mark, Holland, and Italy, wdiich w T ould have been 
sufficient to have manned a fleet superior to the fleet 
of Britain; and while his ships were building, many 
landsmen might be trained in the Baltic, and even in 
the Zuyder See, in the course of two or three years, 
to the habits and ordinary duties of a seaman, which 
would have made them equally useful and expert in 
many of the services which are required from, and per¬ 
formed by, a great proportion of the crews of our ships 
of war. His conquest of Russia would have supplied 
him with all the naval stores required in the equip¬ 
ment of fleets; and the ports of Denmark, Sweden, 
Holland, France, and Italy would have furnished a 
greater quantity of ship-timber than he could have 
occasion for.” # 

“ It is not the expense of building, the beauty and 
strength of the ship, her lofty masts, and other pro¬ 
perties, which are of most importance during a battle. 
When the number and the quality of the guns in a ship 
so constructed, as to work well, are superior to the guns 
of opposing ships , the contest will soon be terminated, f 
If ever we have to fight for our constitution and inde¬ 
pendence,! the struggle must he determined in the 
channel of England. Should the enemy, bent upon 

* “ We should use every means to increase the friendship and sym¬ 
pathy which happily exists between Great Britain and Russia.”—1813. 

f The italics are mine. 

t “ Russia and the Northern States must, from their situation, form 
the best guarantee of a permanent peace.”—1813. 


ARTILLERY—GUSTAYUS ADOLPHUS. 277 

the destruction of Britain, ever discover that it is 
practicable to build and arm ships very superior to 
ships constructed and armed as at present, our fall is 
sealed, if we meet them in battle unprepared , and not 
equally armed —“The Americans are proving the 
truth of this doctrine upon a small scale. I know that 
fri gates, of certain dimensions and properly armed, 
may prove superior to many of our line-of-battle ships, 
and that ships of two decks, of proper dimensions, and 
rightly armed, will prove an over-match to any of 
them. Should no change take place in marine war in 
Europe , we are safe .”—“ The fate of battles de¬ 
pends chiefly upon artillery ; and many of the 
weapons used by our soldiers are only formidable in 
opposition to similar weapons, but very inferior to 
weapons that might be used.”—“ Being a great ad¬ 
mirer of Gustavus Adolphus, I was much struck with 
the account of the leathern guns contrived by him, by 
means of which he gained his two great battles in 
Germany. Knowing how very uncertain the range 
of a ball fired from a ship in motion was, when aimed 
at an object at a considerable distance, I conjectured 
that a light gun, with a small charge of powder, and 
of a large calibre, which would send its ball in the 
point-black range” (for non-artillery readers, say with¬ 
out elevation), “ that distance which gives a probable 
chance of striking the object aimed at, would be a 
great improvement in ship artillery, more especially 
as such light guns might be loaded and discharged 

oftener than heavy guns.” After an interesting 

* 




278 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


experiment, the persevering gunner continues :■—“ I 
caused a light gun, a 12-pounder, to be cast at Carron.” 
Eventually, “I caused a privateer to be fitted out at 
Liverpool, under the direction of a relation, who was 
a merchant there. She was a ship of 200 tons bur¬ 
den, and carried sixteen light 18-pounder guns, which 
from being cast at Carron, I directed to be named Car- 
ronades, —and these were the first carronades put aboard 
a ship . This ship I named the 4 Spitfire.’ ” 

“ Gustavus Adolphus may be said to have been the 
inventor of the carronades. Having always thought 
so, I directed the following inscription to be engraved 
upon a brass 32-pounder carronade :— 

1 Quantum momenti sit in levibus tormentis, monstravit 
Gustavus magnus qui coriaceis usus est.’ ” 

“ I have made many experiments with 100-pounder 
and 132-pounder carronades. I have sent the 132- 
pound ball to within 160 yards of three miles . I have 
burst the same ball, having a small excavation charged 
with powder, at the perpendicular height of a mile. I 
am confident that a ball of 100 or 132-pounds weight, 
discharged at the distance of two or three hundred 
yards, would pierce the side of any ship, and probably 
both.” I should have remarked that the improver’s 
first carronade was charged with powder, l-12th the 
weight ol the ball, and answered everything he ex¬ 
pected from it. The following on range is most prac¬ 
tical and interesting “ The long point-blank range 
of a gun is a property highly valued by seamen and 




MARINE ARTILLERY. 


279 


artillerists. When a ship sails faster than her anta¬ 
gonist, this property no doubt is of great importance; 
but in an action at a distance, from one to four hun¬ 
dred yards, the long range of a gun is of little con¬ 
sequence. The weight of the hall, and quick firing , 
must then very soon decide the contest .” He would re¬ 
commend to Government “ arming our frigates and 
50-gun ships w T ith carronades of a large calibre. 
Frigates of 36 guns should carry upon their main 
decks 42-pounder carronades, and 40-gun ships upon 
their lower decks 50-pounder carronades, and 50-gun 
ships 60-pounder carronades, and all line-of-battle 
ships should have three or four 100 or 132-pounder 
carronades upon each side of the lower deck; and the 
proportion of powder should not exceed 1-12th of the 
weight of the ball. 55 He considers that, in naval 
fights, firing or fighting at a greater distance than 400 
yards, “will rarely produce anything decisive. 5 ’ And 
he suggests that “ no time should be lost in laying- 
aside our prejudices against light guns, and in dis¬ 
couraging a partiality for guns of a long point-blank 
range. 55 And now he arrives at the well-known truth, 
still most valuable although we have superseded car¬ 
ronades, and to carry out which we are expending such 
vast sums on experiments in gunnery at the present 
day,— the be-all and the-end all of our profession*:— 
“ The more destructive and terrible war is, the 

SOONER WILL IT TERMINATE !” 

Stich remarks, of fifty years since, when men-of- 
war propelled by the screw, and the admirable eight 


280 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


and ten-inch guns for sea service, to say nothing of 
Sir William Armstrong’s guns, were unheard of, lead 
us to think of the proof of the new 300-pounder, as 
a smooth bore, at Shoeburyness, at the beginning of 
May, 1862. The proof, we read,* consisted of four 
rounds,—the first with 60 lbs. of powder, the second 
with 70 lbs., the third with 80 lbs., and the fourth with 
90 lbs. After the proof some most important experi¬ 
ments were made with the same gun, to ascertain the 
initial velocities obtained with large charges of different 
kinds of powder. 

With reference to the information contained in the 
rare pamphlet above set forth, and having in the body 
of my work alluded to the projector of the steam-boat, 
I shall first remark that he was also the inventor and 
proprietor of the first carronades ever cast in Great 
Britain, and that he presented a ship of a peculiar con¬ 
struction—the model of which may be seen in the 
Kensington Museum—to his Majesty Gustavus the 
Third of Sweden. She was armed with carronades, 
for the principle of which, that of combining lightness 
of metal, large calibre, and small charge, the British 
inventor gave the credit to that monarch’s illustrious 
predecessor, Gustavus Adolphus Magnus. 

Next, on the subject of effective firing from ships 
being carried on at short ranges, it will have been seen 
that the scientific gentleman who informs us, himself an 
old sailor, was strongly impressed with the idea that the 
old-fashioned English yard-arm to yard-arm system of 

* The ‘ Standard,’ London, May 2, 1862. 





THE LONG RANGE—HESSE CASSEL. 


281 


fighting was the one most likely to preserve the domi¬ 
nion of the seas for the nation which adopted it. Some 
may feel inclined to ask the question,—Do all the re¬ 
cent projects for rendering vessels invulnerable, and 
giving what may be termed a fabulous degree of force 
to artillery, not somewhat tend to show that we have 
not, even now, after the lapse of half-a-century, ma¬ 
naged to strike out any new theory on this highly 
important subject ? Winning a battle, naval or mili¬ 
tary, miles away from the enemy, or decisive fighting 
at a distance, has yet to be invented. There is some¬ 
thing that smacks of Bob Acres about the very idea ; 
but still, I imagine science must bring on the day for 
such a consummation. If artillerymen have it in con¬ 
templation, the brave Confederate General Beauregard 
evidently has not, when, in one part of his recent ex¬ 
cellent advice to his soldiers, he says, “ The most 
pressing, highest duty, is to win the victory. 5 ’ And, 
again, any one persisting in quitting his standard on 
the battle-field under fire, under pretence of removing 
or aiding the wounded, “ will be shot on the spot!” 

But, returning to peace, with regard to Germany, 
the bold Elector of Hesse Cassel, who has brought 
down the wrath of Austria and Prussia on his head,— 
suggesting a vexed question not within the province of 
this work,—is discreetly advised, by the Journal de 
St. Petersbourg , to use to his subjects the same words 
as the King of Bavaria spoke to the Bavarians,—“ I 
will have peace with my people. ’ And, again, with 
reference to friendly feeling between the students of 



282 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


the Swedish and Danish universities—most important 
at a time when industrial liberty is progressing in 
Europe, and is becoming firmly established in the 
North, especially in the Danish territory—we read 
with pleasure that the students of the University of 
Copenhagen are making grand preparations to receive 
their Swedish and Norwegian colleagues, who are ex¬ 
pected to arrive in the Danish capital on the 12th of 
June. Three hundred students from Upsal were to 
visit Copenhagen in the Swea. Some of them may 
live to hear the spell words, “ Gamle Norge” Old 
Norway, again sending “ the word of battle on the 
blast !” Who can tell ? It may he to aid in bringing 
about the anxiously looked-for universal peace,—when, 
East, West, North, and South, “ nation shall not lift up 

sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any 
>> 


more. 


283 


USEFUL NOTES FOR TRAVELLERS IN NORTHERN 

EUROPE. 

u I here is only one quarter of an hour in human life passed 
ill, and that is between the calling for the reckoning and 
paying it. 5 ’—Rabelais. 

I trust that the reader has already found a few hints 
or notes in ray brief tour, which may be of use in 
the event of a summer trip to the North of Europe. A 
little more may be here given for the special use of 
travellers. I shall chiefly confine my remarks to 
prices and bills of fare, which have hardly been paid 
sufficient attention to in Guide Books; and for want 
of an idea, at least, of which, not being a moneyed man, 
considerable anxiety has often haunted me on my 
travels. Method and economy may form the soul of 
travel, as they should the administration of a properly 
managed fortune ; but there must be some hypotheses 
to work on, or, to be more exact, some facts from ex¬ 
perience. The art of travelling easily, as far as money 
is concerned, is explained by an eloquent moral writer 
of the last century:—“ From time to time examine 
your situation, and proportion your expense to your 
growing or diminishing revenue. Provide what is ne¬ 
cessary before you indulge in what is superfluous.” 
I wonder how another moralist (the immortal Johnson) 


284 


NOETHEEN EUEOPE. 


managed his money matters with Boswell in the He¬ 
brides. I presume the biographer kept the purse, cal¬ 
culating the probable expenditure from time to time, 
heedless of such trifles as the Doctor having a large 
flannel nightcap (he being distressed with a cold) made 
for him by Miss M‘Leod, and the sage being prevailed 
with to drink a little brandy when he was going to bed. 
To digress for a moment. It was shortly after this 
interesting little “ consolation ” of travel that Boswell 
wrote in his Journal,—“ My fellow-traveller and I 
talked of going to Sweden ; and while we were settling 
our plan, I expressed a pleasure in the prospect of 
seeing the King [Gustavus the Third]. Johnson. ‘ I 
doubt, sir, if he would speak to us.’ Colonel M‘Leod 
said, ‘ I am sure Mr. Boswell would speak to him.’ ” 

In Northern Europe, “ where every stranger finds 
a ready chair,” the traveller will probably think more 
of the bills of fare, and the bills he has to pay, than of 
the probability of Germany, or Prussia, causing Fede¬ 
ral execution to be applied to Schleswig, and Denmark 
regarding such execution as a casus belli , “ even if the 
territory of Holstein alone were occupied.” 

Leaving the analysis of the Danish note to subtle 
politicians, having landed safe in Hamburg —say with 
sixty sovereigns in his pocket, resolved to do all accom¬ 
plished in this tour—the stranger finds himself in 
the Hotel de U Europe, where “ Restauration,” “ Kalte 
u. Warme Bader,” &c., head the bill, presented to him 
as he is about to start for Altona. The expense per day 
has not, for two persons, exceeded 16 marks. For this 


NOTES FOR TRAYELLERS. 


285 


sum, in addition to two comfortable zimmers (rooms), 
the travellers have enjoyed one elegant dinner at the 
table d'hote, at four o’clock, where they sat down with 
70 or 80 to the great “ business ” of life, and might 
have done ample justice to roast beef, fowl and ham, 
eels, ice, soup, vegetables, &c., and drank Julien, cura- 
90 a, and coffee. The mark is equal to 16 schillings , 
being in English money about Is. 2 ^d. Sixteen of these 
marks and 12 schillings go to the sovereign ; and one 
shilling English may be said to equal 14 schillings 
Hamburg. Again, there is the Mark Banco , 

Is. Exchange at par of 13 of these =, with some 

10 or 11 schillings, the pound sterling. 

In the Hotel Royal , Copenhagen, the daily ex¬ 
pense for two travellers may amount to 7 Rigsbank 
dollars , the legal coin of the realm. 

In the bill will be found included, breakfasts, soda- 
water, cognac, dinner at the table d’hote, lights, 
attendance, and even one moderate hire for a drosclike, 
with some minor charges. The Rigsbank dollar is 
equal to rather more than 2s. 2 d. English, = 96 skil¬ 
lings Danish. Nine such dollars, and ten skillings = 
the pound sterling. A more valuable coin, the Specie 
Thaler (4s. 4 d.) is occasionally used. 

At Gottenburg, for two persons, the mere lodg¬ 
ing including breakfast, in a comfortable hotel on the 
quay, will not exceed five Riksgald dalers per day. 
This is very cheap. A capital dinner may he had at 
Borsen’s for a few dollars more. Dining out, in the 
hotel we went to, appeared to be the fashion. Bill of 


286 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


fare at the above Swedish “ Restauration ” may include 
roast beef, potatoes, cauliflower, puddings, one bottle 
of Julien, two glasses of cura^oa, and one of brandy; 
or, dinner for two, say 6 R. drs. At Gottenburg 
we got for our sovereign 17 dollars and 90 ore, which 
is good value. 100 ore go to the daler (Riksgald) or 
“ Riksdaler en Riksmynt ” as it is styled on the beau¬ 
tiful little note issued by the Bank of Sweden (Sweriges 
Rikes Standers Bank ) which is worth, in English 
money, a little more than Is. Id. The 10 ore-piece 
of Sweden is a gem of a little silver coin, and is very 
convenient. The note above alluded to has “ Swedish 
Bank-note ” in four different languages, in the four 
corners, engraven upon it, and is altogether a very 
tasteful production. 

At Stockholm we did not get more than 17 R. 
drs., 75 ore for the sovereign, and, on another occa¬ 
sion, only 17 : 50. Seeing it particularly recommended 
in Murray’s ‘Handbook’ to repair to the “Bank of 
Sweden ” for change, I did so; but there was so 
much difficulty about the change of a few sovereigns, 
that I was obliged to come away changeless. A Swe¬ 
dish gentleman recommended me to a more modest 
sort of bank, not far from the palace, where the change 
required was obtained at once. The Danish dollar 
seemed to lose its value in Sweden, where three kinds 
of daler, of their own, are in use. 

In Norway there is the Specie Thaler = 120 skil¬ 
ling = 4s. 5d. nearly. There are also neat bank-notes 
issued. The Daler Banco of Sweden is worth nearly 


NOTES FOR TRAVELLERS. 


287 


Is. 8 d .: therefore 12 such = 1 /. sterling. The pas¬ 
sage of the traveller (cabin) costs 23 R. drs. from 
Gottenburg to Stockholm. The charges on board the 
steamer are very moderate. For passages to Helsingfors 
from the capital of Sweden, in the ‘ Furst Menschikoff/ 
we paid some two dollars more than 4 /., or about 
73 R. drs. = 36^ each passenger. Living in Stock¬ 
holm at the excellent Hotel Rydberg , exclusive of 
dinner, cost us between 8 and 9 R. drs. per day, or 4 | 
each (4^. 10^<L). The account for the previous day 
—Dags Rakningin —is regularly placed on the door of 
your room (rum) : so that you may know exactly how 
you stand. Diner a la carte, after 1 p.m., and not a 
table d’hote, is the form pursued at the Rydberg. 
The room is spacious and even elegant; and here the 
would-be Lavater can satisfy himself with every North¬ 
ern physiognomy. I will give one small account of 
the fare presented on one occasion, with prices :— 



Riksm. 


Rdr. 

Ore. 

2 Soppa . 

— 

70 

2 Roast Beef .... 

1 

— 

2 Tiirta. 

— 

70 

£ Julien. 

2 

— 

1 Cognac (glass) . . 

— 

25 

1 Soda . 

— 

25 


4 

80 


N.B .—Such a dinner might well satisfy the most voracious appe¬ 
tite—the cost for two being about five shillings English only. For a 
dollar or so less we have also dined very comfortably. 

We now come to classic ground, Ups ala, where 
Linnaeus studied, and wrote, and dined. The Stads- 

















288 


NORTHERN EUROPE. 


Hotellet Nota (account) is before me, and holds forth 
for one night’s lodging and the occupation of a room 
for a portion of a day; or, in the terms of the bill, 
“Logis for 1 Rum med 2 Sang,” i. e. one room with 
two beds,—sang being a word of repose, not of blood, 
as its sound might imply,—“ 2 Rdr. Riksmynt.” 
“ Ljus ” (lights) 25 ore ; “ KafFe med agg and smor ” 
(coffee, with eggs and bread and butter), 1 Rdr. 6 ore; 
“Borstning” (shoe-cleaning, or brushing of some 
kind), 25 ore = “ Summa” (total) Rd. 3 : 36 ore. We 
had a tolerable dinner in the same house for a mode¬ 
rate sum. 

In Hindustan, the “Griffin” gets on with Idhur 
ao, Khana Lao , intimating that his servant is to ap¬ 
proach, and his dinner to be brought. In Sweden, 
the fresh traveller may do wonders with Frukost, 
Middag, —Supe, and such like, the approach to the 
verbs attached to that all-important trio —breakfast, 
dinner, supper—being less easily attained than in the 
East. The “ Rechnung fiir Passagier No. — rum 
Dampfschiff Furst Menschikoff,” bound for Hel¬ 
singfors, amounted for two passengers to 10 Sil. Rub. 
10 Kop.” This included 3 breakfasts, 6 full meals or 
dinners, 8 cups of coffee, Julien, soda-water, &c. The 
dinners amounted to 3 Rub. 60 Kop. I have already 
(Sect. VII.) alluded to the value of rubles and kopeks. 

I observe in some most usefully arranged tables* 

I have fallen in with that the silver Rub. = 100 Kop. 
= 3s. 1 \d .; and 6 Ru. 40 Ko. per 1/. We did not 


* ‘ Comprehensive Trade Tables.’ 




NOTES EOR TRAVELLERS. 


289 


use any gold in Russia; but from the same source 
I find that the Imperial (gold coin) is equal to 10 
rubles = 1Z. 12s. 2d .; the half-imperial = 16s. llcZ. 

At Helsingfors, the “ Rekning ” was not very high, 
costing from 2 to 3 rubles per day for two persons, 
with room and breakfast; but here, as in most other 
places, all depends on the accommodation. 

And now I conclude with a note or two at St. 
Petersburgh. At the Hotel Kaiser , for two persons, 
with really splendid accommodation, the entire charges 
did not exceed 7 rubles a day. The day’s lodging 
alone amounted to only “ 2^ Arg. RoubR Everything 
in this hotel was good; but there are many others in 
the capital of the Czar. The cookery in the Imperial 
city is excellent. The Russians have evidently learned 
it from the English as well as from the French. The 
immortal Czar, Peter, who taught the Russians every¬ 
thing—even how to eat—had one of the most sump¬ 
tuous bills of fare presented to him, while in Britain, 
ever set before a sovereign. Thirteen sat down to 
dinner at Godaiming, in Surrey; and the landlord s 
bill concludes with, after half-a-page of other deli¬ 
cacies, “ eight pullets, four soup of rabbits, two dozen 
and a half of sack, and one dozen of claret!” Such 
was the conclusion of a meal 160 years ago ! 


IN MEMORIAM. 

At this stage of correcting the press, I was grieved to hear of the 
death of Lord Canning. This mournful event, on which the London 
daily press exhausted so much eloquent feeling, leads me to remark 
that the noble Earl was one of the patrons of the Seetabuldee Lectures^ 
two of which are about to be presented to the reader. Long before 
they were originated, I was an admirer of his policy during an ad- 

U 



290 




SEETABULDEE LECTURES. 

I—THE NE1LUHERRIES, OR BLUE MOUNTAINS. 

The region to which I beg your attention this even- 
ing* “is known by the name of the Neilgherry Hills, 
or the Blue Mountains of Coimbatoor, and their great¬ 
est length is fifty miles from north-east to south-west, 
and breadth about twenty-five miles from north to 
south, reckoning from their base. The numerous 
white buildings of Ootacamund are scattered over a 
considerable extent of country, and their effect is as 
beautiful as the site in which they are placed is de¬ 
lightful. The temperature near the town is never so 
high as in an English summer, nor so low as in an 
English winter.” A register kept for four years shows 


ministration “ in days of peril and dismay, when men’s hearts failed 
them for fear,” and when such transcendant abilities were displayed 
during one of the most critical periods of Indian history—such as 
only could have been displayed by a mind “ never thrown off the 
balance by representations of exaggerated fears on the one hand, or 
by extravagant and passionate resentment on the other.” Earl 
Canning was born Ijfth December, 1812, and died in London, June 
17th, 1862. As it is probable there will no longer be any field for 
the display of such faculties as the great departed possessed, perhaps 
we may say of him, who may be said to have died in harness, in the 
words of the Danish prince:— 

“ He was a man, take him for all in all, 

We shall not look upon his like again 1” 


* Thursday, lOtli November, 1859. 





THE NEILGHERRIES. 


291 


a variation from 36° to 70° of Fahrenheit in the great¬ 
est extremes, but in nineteen days out of twenty the 
variation was from 42° to 65°. The average fall of 
rain was considerably more than that of Nagpore, and 
more than double that which falls in London in the 
same time. The average rain on the Neilgherries has 
even been put down as high as 60 inches. The mists 
are sometimes of the densest nature; and then you 
may be led to think over the local tradition which 
prevails in this region, that the Great Intelligence 
appeared to the people in a mist. 

Here is everything which can charm the student 
of the picturesque, and the invalid in pursuit of 
health. Here the antiquary, or the student of his¬ 
tory may behold the remnant of the Todar race. 
The Todars are said to be the aborigines of the 
Neilgherry Hills; and, as they have little or no 
very intelligible tradition, nothing certain is known 
regarding them. They were probably here long be¬ 
fore the Brahmanical religion and civilisation were 
brought into India, and they were perhaps a power¬ 
ful people, while Egypt and Assyria, and Persia and 
China were celebrated for their wealth and intelli¬ 
gence. The tall handsome Todar, with his noble 
looking bulfalo—the not ungraceful Todar woman, 
with her hair done in long, curious ringlets — the 
feudal custom of exacting tribute from the burgh¬ 
ers, or agriculturists who have come up from the 
plains—their disinclination for manual labour, simply 
contenting themselves with carrying about honey oi 
ghee (a sort of butter made from the buffalo milk) 



292 


SEETABULBEE LECTURES. 


for sale from house to house — truly, a mystery 
hangs over all! Nearly all the race have vanished, 
and left the archaeologist but meagre signs. Borrow 
says beautifully in his ‘ Bible in Spain,’ while think¬ 
ing over memorials of greatness passed away, and 
moralizing on the Druid’s Stone :—“ There it stands 
on the Hill of Winds, as strong and as freshly new 
as the day, perhaps thirty centuries back, when it 
was raised by means which are a mystery. . . . There 
it stands; and he who wishes to study the literature, 
the learning, and the history of the ancient Celt and 
Cymbrian, may gaze on its broad covering, and glean 
from that blank stone the whole known amount.”* 
The Todars preserve their primitive manners. The 
pile of stone is also to be found on the Blue Moun¬ 
tains. These facts, with the Scythic-like contents of 
the Todar cairns and tumuli, the likeness existing 
between the Todar houses and those of the ancient 
Britons or Celtic Scythians, with other causes, adduced 
by indefatigable antiquaries, have led to the sup¬ 
position that the Todars are a remnant of one of 
the ancient Scythian tribes, who, driven from place 
to place by the hostility of the inhabitants of the 
country they invaded, at length found shelter and 
tranquillity in the mountain fastnesses of the Neil- 
gherries.f There is certainly good authority for 
stating that the irruptions of the ancient Scythians 
frequently took place upon the countries of the South 
of Asia, in the course of which they penetrated as far 
as India. Bat they have left us no records of their 

* Chapter vii. 


t Congreve. 


THE NEILGHEEEIES. 


293 


history or greatness—the early sons of that curious 
Todar race. All that is known, or has been written 
about them, is mere speculation. True, the enthusi¬ 
astic antiquary tells us that “ there is not a relic of 
Druidism existing in England the type of which he has 
not found on these hills.” He takes us to the crom¬ 
lechs—literally, stone tables—of the Neilgherries, and 
pronounces them to b q facsimiles of those in Europe. 
You cannot contradict him—you cannot say that it 
is not so; he has shut up your argument by compa¬ 
rison, and you go away wondering. You think for a 
moment you are in Wales, but you are really in India. 
You go away thinking of the Hebrew words which 
are said to give the derivation of cromlech — cavern- 
luach —signifying a “ devoted, or consecrated stone.” 
I say, then, the Todar has not left us any records of 
his' origin to satisfy the inquiring mind. And here, 
isolated as it were, from the world, he has probably 
reigned for very many centuries, while empires have 
been hastening to decay, and great Hindu sovereign¬ 
ties have been falling to pieces, quite unconscious of 
the political convulsions of the world—a child of 
Nature—unaffected by the mighty spirit of change. 
The race must soon altogether disappear from the 
earth ; and the last Todar, with the last Red Indian, 
may, even in the present century, be purchased for 
exhibition in London or New York by the Barnum, 
or showman, of some future day. 

The chief wealth of the Todars consists in their 
buffaloes. As soon as the herd is liberated from the 
rude circular stone building of an enclosure in the 








294 


SEETABULDEE LECTUKES. 


morning, they are milked, and then allowed to graze 
in the neighbourhood of their houses (or Miirrts), 
while the family are at breakfast. Shortly after this 
the men, accompanied in fine weather by two or 
three of the women, lead them to the distant pastures, 
while the remaining women take care of the domestic 
concerns, mend and make the garments of the family, 
and nurse the children. About noon the herd is 
driven home again, the family take their dinner of 
milk and rice, and again the buffaloes are led to 
pasture until nearly sunset, when they are shut up 
in the enclosure; the family then sup and retire to 
rest: and thus, from the best authority, you have 
an account of the ordinary Todar day. Meeting 
them as I have often done while rambling about the 
Blue Mountains, you cannot help thinking that both 
men and women are a decidedly superior race,' in 
form, and in frankness of manner, with Europeans, 
to the majority of Asiatics on the plains. Their 
features are said to be like those of Jews and Arabs; 
and it is also affirmed that their traditions, the imper¬ 
fect few they really possess, would seem to give them 
a Hebrew origin. But their language affords no clue. 

The Hill tribes are at present five in number: the 
Todars, Burghers, Kurrumbers, Kothers, or Koders, 
and Eurelars. Regarding the Todars, much interest¬ 
ing matter has been given to the world by Captain 
Ochtertony, of the Madras Engineers, and by Captain 
Congreve, of the Madras Artillery. The work of the 
former, on the Neilgherries, is well known; and the 
latter officer has written a remarkably able paper on 


THE NEILGHEKRIES. 


295 


the antiquities of the Neilgherry Hills, &c., in the 
i Madras Journal of Literature and Science.’ You 
may frequently disapprove of his conclusions ; but 
you are compelled to admire the patience and research 
of the learned soldier and antiquary. 

Taking Buddhism to be the original patriarchal 
system, it is impossible to agree with Captain Con¬ 
greve in his assertion that “ Hinduism (properly so 
called) is more ancient than Buddhism;” and it is 
the opinion of many great Orientalists, that Buddhism 
is older than Brahmanism, and must have “ prevailed 
in Central Asia before the Hindus invaded India.” 

Probably most of you know already that what is 
styled the cradle of the human race is supposed to be 
the country at the foot of the Caucasus, stretching 
along to the west by the Black Sea, and to the south 
by the Tigris and Euphrates. M. Manupied agrees 
with Sir William Jones, that the Hindus have had, from 
time immemorial, affinity with the ancient Persians, 
Ethiopians, Egyptians, Phenicians, Greeks, and Etrus¬ 
cans, Scythians or Goths, and Celts, Chinese, Japan- 
nese and Peruvians, from which it is supposed that 
they may have been one colony of some of these na¬ 
tions ; as Manupied says, it proves that these nations 
and the Hindus went forth from one central region. 
I would prove that the Brahmanical Hindus went at a 
later period than other tribes or sects into Hindustan. 
To do this is not very difficult. 

The oriental researches of few Indian officers have 
been so extensive as Congreve’s, yet a few of his 
remarks regarding the priority of Brahmanism in 


296 


SEETABULDEE LECTUEES. 


India are hardly satisfactory; and I cannot under¬ 
stand why the antiquary just named has relinquished 
the theory that any tinge of Buddhism the Todars 
may possess—and there is a tinge—was acquired 
by them before they migrated to Hindustan. The 
aboriginal tribes of India are distinct from the mass of 
the population, consisting of Hindus of the Brahman- 
ical persuasion. The Hindus brought with them the 
Sanskrit language, not in its present highly refined 
state, but as a colloquial tongue. “ Hence,” says 
General Briggs, “it comes that the language of the 
aborigines has in many parts gradually disappeared.” 
The conquests of Alexander, you may recollect, took 
place about 330 years before Christ; the great orien¬ 
talist, Mr. Prinsep, ascertained that at the period of 
these conquests, India was under the sway of Buddh¬ 
ist sovereigns and Buddhist institutions, and that the 
earliest monarchs of India are not associated with a 
Brahmanical creed or dynasty. According to the 
Chinese, the Brahmans in India were a tribe of 
strangers, and the chief of the tribes of the barba¬ 
rians. In the accounts of the constituents of Indian 
society, in the third century before the Christian era, 
there is the absolute and total omission of the term 
“Brahman” in any of them; and it is particularly 
remarkable, in the opinion of the learned Colonel 
Sykes, that a writer like Arrian, in his 4 Historiae 
Indicae,’ should have omitted all mention of them, 
had they been a numerous body, or held any station 
whatever. Who, then, were the other classes de¬ 
scribed by the Greek historian Arrian ? There is 


THE NEILGHERRIES. 


297 


something of Todar life about the heads of his seven • 
classes, their not doing any labour, sacrificing to the 
gods, not well clad, reposing in cool places under 
trees. Next to these sophists were the husbandmen, 
who did what is now performed by the Burghers, and 
so on. But to return and conclude my remarks here 
on the priority of Buddhism,—even the far-famed 
temple of Juganath is supposed to be built on or 
near the site of a celebrated relic temple of the 
Buddhists ; and it is highly probable that the modern 
worship of Juganath has a Buddhist origin.* 

Leaving Brahmanism and Buddhism, there is m6re 
satisfaction in learning from the antiquary that it is 
certain “ that the aborigines of India were a Scythian 
race—Celto-Scythic.” The Scythians under one of 
their most early emperors are said by the historian, 
Abulgazi, to have conquered the northern regions of 
Hindustan. And you all know that from Scythia 
sprung the three great people who overran Europe : the 
Slavonic tribes, the Goths or Germans, and the Celts. 
The discussion of their religion, habits, and institutions 
cannot possibly be brought into the compass of an 
hour’s lecture, even to attempt proof of an affinity 
with the curious Todar race; so, leaving you to the 
pages of Congreve, Ochtertony, Harkness, Hough, 
Baikie, Packman, Burton, and other writers, I shall now 
introduce you to a kind German friend, a missionary 
of very considerable attainments, a sort ot walking 
encyclopedia of Neilgherry lore. He seemed to think 

* ‘ Notes on the Religious, Moral, and Political State of Ancient 
India,’ By Colonel Sykes, F.R.S. 


298 


SEETABULDEE LECTURES. 


that there were more Todars than were generally sup¬ 
posed ; or, instead of three or four hundred, about one 
thousand. The good man appeared to live in strong 
hopes of being able to convert the Burghers (of whom 
there are about 16,000 on the hills), but of the elder 
race, the Todars, he seldom gave any opinion. If one 
chief would only come in, he would say, among the 
Burghers, thousands would follow. This zealous mis¬ 
sionary, who had pitched his camp in such a wild region, 
was in some respects an extraordinary man. He seemed 
to be able to speak all the languages of the five tribes 
on the hills—knew all about their customs and condi¬ 
tion—and had one or more of his huts pitched near 
the wildest of them—far away from the sight of any 
European. It was in one of these I paid him a visit. His 
hut was only a few feet square, covered in, and thatched 
comfortably enough, built of mud, with a few stones, 
and containing a snug chimney; and beside the fire— 
which is nearly always required on the Neilgherries— 
the German Apostle of the Blue Mountains would sit 
and puff his consoling cheroot, and talk of his pros¬ 
pects of conversion, the literature of Germany, and 
dwell on other topics in the most interesting manner. 
With a bowl of coffee in the morning—the best thing 
to work on in the world, he would say—he was ready 
for a day’s campaign. He was generally armed with 
a walking staff of no ordinary dimensions, and as a 
sort of body-guard, was accompanied in his travels 
to the different villages by a huge, brown, striped dog, 
which, on account of the animal’s love for his master, 
was humorously styled “the tiger’s breakfast!” To 




THE NEILGHERRIES. 


299 


understand the nature of the people among whom he 
laboured, appeared to be among his chief studies ; and 
the confidence with which he seemed to walk into a 
Burgher village, summoning the head men, and talk¬ 
ing to them kindly over their affairs, brought to 
memory the names of many great men who have gone 
on thus labouring in other quarters of Asia, too often 
“ in front of severest obloquy.” Unlike the labourers 
among the Karens, in Burmah,—who are not difficult 
to convert, being simply deists, and having a natural 
thirst for knowledge, which the hill tribes do not yet 
possess—the missionary on the hills has really a severe 
task before him. “ Six men for Arraccan !” was the 
cry of a devoted labourer to a brother who was about 
to leave for his own native America. But even had 
they been sent, he was dead before such assistance 
could have reached him. The friend on the hills, of 
whom I have now given a very slight sketch, doubtless, 
every day, wished for five more like himself. He re¬ 
marked before our parting that, although not well, he 
would not leave his poor Burghers—no—not even to 
visit Germany—the land of Luther, and Goethe, and 
Schiller—his fatherland! And every one knows 
what the fatherland is to Germans. They fling around 
the love of it perhaps more enthusiasm than any other 
nation. Every student sings :— 

“ What is the German’s fatherland? 

Come name to me that mighty land ! 

Far as the German language rings, 

Where’er to God his hymn he sings, 

That land is his—that land divine— 

That land, stout German, call it thine ! ” 



300 


SEETABULDEE LECTURES. 


The devotion of the Neilgherry missionary to his 
work has since recalled him to memory while reading 
a most eloquent tribute to the memory of the Swiss 
Lacroix, by Dr. Duff, who records the wish of his 
friend, recently granted in Calcutta,—“ I have always 
wished to die in the field.” 

Let us now dwell for a little on their discovery, 
and glance at the foundation of progress on the Neil- 
gherries—the Sanitarium of the Madras Presidency, 
the climate of which, I believe, is better than that of 
Mahableshwar in Bombay, Darjeeling (the bright spot) 
in Bengal; and I have even heard Bengalees declare 
these hills equal, if not superior, to the cool stations 
on the Himalayahs. The Canarese term Neilgherry , 
is compounded of neil , blue, and gherry , mountain. 
From the year 1799 to 1819, nothing was known to 
Europeans of this remarkable region, in which might 
some day rise to view, at nearly an equal altitude above 
the level of the sea, towns and cities, rivalling the 
great intropical Quito, Mexico, and Caraccas of South 
America. A new “ earthly paradise” in India, with a 
healthy and steady climate, although the Neilgherries 
were in daily view of the authorities in the Coimbatoor 
district, and even the Company collected a revenue 
from them, was quite unknown till January, 1819, 
when several gentlemen, then residing at Coimbatoor, 
set out on a tour of discovery, wrote and spoke in 
raptures of the climate and appearance of the new 
region; and thus began the dawn of public attention 
towards a (to Europeans) new clime of the sun. A 


THE NEILGHERRIES. 


301 


dawn it simply was ; and one not of the brightest or 
most cheering nature. The temperature might be 30° 
lower than that of the plains; but would not such a 
region, in addition to being overrun with wild animals, 
be productive of nothing save deadly fevers and death 
to those who would dare become residents ? We are 
informed that many Europeans and natives asked 
themselves this or a similar question. But fear and 
apathy and ignorance of the resources of India in this 
quarter, must be swept away ere “ the desert shall 
rejoice and blossom as the rose.” Two young civilians, 
Messrs. Whish and Kindersley, had proceeded to the 
interior of the hills on duty, in pursuit of a prisoner, 
whom they found at a village called Dynaud, about 
nine miles to the eastward of Kotagherry, “ near Run- 
gasamy Peak, the most sacred mountain on the Neil- 
gherries.” From the praises lavished on the hills by 
these adventurers, the collector of Coimbatoor, Mr. 
Sullivan, just forty years ago, became fairly established, 
with his family, in this delightful climate, where he 
continued to reside for nearly ten years. Through the 
representations of Mr. Sullivan to the Madras Gover¬ 
nors who preceded Mr. Lushington, the authorities 
were made aware of the vast importance of the hills 
to the public. But the appeals of that zealous public 
servant were received with a prudent caution, foi which 
Madras Governors, like Scotchmen, were then prover¬ 
bial ; and so nothing was done. 

In March, 1828, Mr. Sullivan wrote to the Right 
Hon. S. R. Lushington, Governor of Madras, in the 


302 


SEETABULDEE LECTURES. 


following strain :—“ Having long endeavoured, but 
with little success, to impress upon the minds of your 
predecessors the great advantages which might be 
derived from the Neilgherries, it was with unmixed 
satisfaction that I saw the subject so warmly and so 
promptly taken up by yourself.” After stating that 
he had ventured to suggest the appointment of a com¬ 
manding officer, and had repeatedly urged the expe¬ 
diency of establishing an hospital for European soldiers 
on the hills, nay more, that there a general depot for 
European troops for the great military stations of 
Bangalore, Trichinopoly, Quilon, Cannanore, and Bel- 
guum, might be formed with great advantage, Mr. 
Sullivan wisely remarks, “ I have always considered 
that the judicious expenditure of thousands here would 
lead to the saving of lakhs.” 

Major Kelso was the first commanding officer of 
the Neilgherries, and to him and to Mr. Sullivan, 
under the liberal protectorship of the Governor, Mr. 
Lushington, we owe the first step towards order and 
civilisation on the hills. The several routes to this 
favoured region now began to occupy public atten¬ 
tion. The ascent by the Coonoor Pass, or Ghaut, 
which, viewed from the top of Doda-betta,—the high¬ 
est of the Neilgherries,— presents an extraordinary 
scene of magnificence and beauty, was pointed out to 
Mr. Lushington as a direct route perfectly practicable. 
The suggestion was entertained; the Pass was com¬ 
menced by Major Cadogan, “and,” writes Lieutenant 
Jervis, in 1834, “ has been since completed by the 


THE NEILGHERRIES. 


303 


strenuous exertions of the Madras pioneers under 
Captains Eastment and Murray.” 

In the year of the discovery of the Neilgherry Hills, 
1819, Monsieur Leschnault de la Tour, a distinguished 
naturalist, employed by the King of France to make 
scientific researches in India, wrote a very excellent 
and instructive letter from Pondicherry, on the sub¬ 
ject of the “ Neilgherry Mountains, which are situate 
to the north-west of Coimbatoor.” “ Their length east 
and west,” writes the naturalist, “ is about forty miles, 
and their width north and south varies at different 
points from fifteen to twenty-five miles.” The enter¬ 
prising Frenchman remained some days on their sum¬ 
mit, and made various interesting excursions. He de¬ 
scribed the ascent on the Coimbatoor side as scarcely 
accessible ; but by dint of extraordinary perseverance, 
passing over narrow paths made by the natives, em¬ 
barrassed by fragments of rock, which he is obliged to 
pass with the aid of his hands, taking care, unless he 
wish to “ topple down headlong,” not to look down 
into the tremendous abyss below, he manages to 
behold, in the “ latitude of eleven degrees,” from the 
summits of these mountains, scenery as beautifully 
varied and picturesque as, perhaps, any to be found in 
the world. On the surface are hillocks or mounds, 
more or less steep, and valleys formed by these, in 
which are ever running rivulets of clear spring water; 
then there is the varied aspect of the sides of the 
mountains; here cultivated fields,—cultivation in its 
roughest and wildest form; there, almost impene- 


304 


SEETABULDEE LECTURES. 


trable brushwood. The Frenchman remarks on the 
danger of approaching such places “ from the number 
of tigers, bears, and wild dogs which inhabit them.” 
He likewise mentions a forest on the slopes of the 
mountain, “ which serves as a recess for tigers, and at 
the base there are many elephants.” 

The danger is considerably less at the present 
day ; but yet there are ample reasons for the sports¬ 
man to use caution in his excursion. Lieutenant 
Jervis, in proceeding from the beautiful Falls of the 
Cavery to the Neilgherry Hills, describes, in the re¬ 
gion of these Falls,—which he seems to think almost 
equal Niagara in splendour,—“a valley formed by 
the steep banks of two mountains, overhung with 
trees of great variety, whilst the brushwood and long 
grass at the bottom afford shelter to tigers, elks, hogs, 
and all the feathered tribe of game.” And here, we 
are told, the Commander-in-Chief, Sir R. O’Callagan, 
shot a fine elk. From Seringapatam to the Blue 
Mountains, there is, doubtless, ample employment 
for the artist, the naturalist, the sportsman, and the 
antiquary. 

It may not be uninteresting to chronicle the fact, 
that, after the ascent of M. Leschnault de la Tour, a 
party, in May, 1820, in which was a lady, ascended 
the Hills. Mr. Hough relates the fact; but, un¬ 
fortunately, he does not give her name, so we are 
prevented the pleasure of handing her down to pos¬ 
terity. The next year, “ the pass,” it may be pre¬ 
sumed the Keeloor, by which the two civilians before 


THE NEILGHERRIES. 


305 


mentioned had descended, was opened, and several 
families took up their temporary abode on the hills. 

It is singular to notice the extreme distrust with 
which the Neilgherries, as a sanatarium, among the 
Europeans in India, were hailed on their first becoming 
known. The insalubrity of hilly countries elsewhere 
in the vast peninsula was proverbial. But gradually 
this prejudice was removed, and invalids from the three 
Presidencies of India began to flock to the new region. 
Even as far back as 1829, Mr. Hough writes, “ The 
positive benefit derived by invalids who have visited 
the Hills, and the uniform testimony in their favour 
borne by all the medical gentlemen who have resided 
any time upon them, have established their reputa¬ 
tion ; and they are now resorted to without appre¬ 
hension of any calamitous consequences.” 

Foremost among the doubters as to the salubrity 
of the Neilgherries was a former Bishop of Calcutta; 
but at length, discovering that a church was to be 
consecrated at Ootacamund, he yielded, we are told, 
to an “ exalted sense of public duty,” and in Decem¬ 
ber, 1830, we find him extremely comfortable, de¬ 
lighted with the climate, delighted with everything 
and with everybody, in the newly-founded capital of 
the Blue Mountains. The Bishop writes to the Go¬ 
vernor, Mr. Lushington, about the splendid hospitality 
of Mr. Casamajor, an agent of the British Govern¬ 
ment in Mysore, and compares the hills to Malvern 
“at the fairest season.” Shortly after sunrise the 
worthy Bishop is on the summit ol Dodabetta, where, 


306 


SEETABULDEE LECTURES. 


he says, “ I had a fuller sense of the enjoyment to be 
derived from air and natural scenery, than I ever 
remember to have experienced at any time, or at any 
place.” 

We can even imagine, had Boswell dragged his 
big philosophic friend, the immortal Johnson, to the 
apex of this mass of mountains,—for such is Doda- 
betta, rising 8700 feet above the level of the sea,— 
from the peak and various other stations to the east¬ 
ward, having “ a prospect of the fertile district of 
Coimbatoor, watered by the windings of the Bhow- 
any, and spread like a beautiful garden at your 
feet,” he would surely have declared to his toad- 
eating companion, “ Sir, this is a prospect! ” with a 
satisfaction not less than that of a bishop of Cal¬ 
cutta. 

In the year 1829, the foundations of St. Stephen’s 
Church at Ootacamund had been laid; and, on the 
5th of December, 1830, it was consecrated by the 
Bishop.* The establishment of a Protestant temple 
amidst these mountains was indeed a day to be re¬ 
membered. Lieutenant Jervis, some years afterwards, 
published an account of the ceremony, written by the 
late Mr. James Lushington, which is full of interest; 
but we have only space to give the text of the Bishop’s 
sermon preached on the occasion, from Isaiah xxxv. 1. 
“ The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad 
for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as 
the rose.” And the admirably chosen site of this 


* Bishop Turner, if I mistake not. 


THE NEILGHEREIES. 


307 


plain Gothic edifice, we believe chosen hy the engi¬ 
neer, Captain Underwood, who also had the arrange¬ 
ments ot the foundations and superstructure, is thus 
truthfully described:—“It stands on the base of one 
of those verdant slopes which constitute the charm 
of Neilgherry scenery, yet high enough to command 
a perfect view of mountains and woods, which, bound¬ 
ing the happy valley of Ootacamund to the east and 
south, and extending in imposing magnificence in a 
south-west direction, terminate with a view of the 
cleft side of Avalanche Hill, and the distant summit 
of Moorkooty’s towering peak.” [Moo-kooty, from 
moo, a nose, and kooty , a piece.] This mountain is 
famous as being connected with mythological lore. 
The sister of Rawanna, it is written, came from Ceylon 
to oppose Rama. Rama, in the power of his ven¬ 
geance, cut off her nose; and hence the “ towering 
peak ” of Moo-kooty. Near Bombay, the Peak of 
Mahableshwar is about 5000 feet above the level of 
the sea. But that sanitarium of the western Ghauts 
is very much below the height of the Neilgherry 
ridge at the boundary of Mysore. “The mountain 
scenery of Southern India in general,” we are told, 
and every attentive traveller will admit the fact, 
“ though wanting these features which invest the 
Himalayas with so sublime a character, is beautiful, 
striking, and picturesque. It assimilates more to that 
of Wales and Scotland, with this peculiarity, that it 
never rises above the limit ot the 1 idlest vegetation, 

and has its highest summits crowned with woods and 

x 2 


308 


SEETABULDEE LECTURES. 


verdure.” In some parts of the Hills the scarcity of 
forest is remarkable. The Neilgherries, properly so 
called, are by some said to comprise two distinct tracts 
of mountainous country,—the Neilgherries proper, and 
the Khondahs. The latter, a strikingly picturesque 
and singular mass of mountains, are in the south¬ 
west angle of the Neilgherries.* 

I have already given you the number of Todars 
and Burghers on the Neilgherries. Besides these the 
Koders number 1000, the Eureyelars nearly 3000 (in¬ 
cluding high and low country) ; the Kurrumbers on 
the Hills, 500 ; but as there are a good many Kur¬ 
rumbers in the low country, or at the base of the 
Hills, the total population of the various tribes may 
he put down at 22,000. 

It is now necessary to say something more about 
these tribes. All the Burghers are Sivaites; the 
Kurrumbers are also Sivaites. The Eureyelars are 
partly Yishnuvites. The Koders, like the Todars, 
have no definite religion; but the former hold a piece 
of gold, and the latter a bell, as sacred. The Koders 
are the gold-workers who came from Mysore; they 
are still fair goldsmiths and jewellers, and to this day 
worship the Mysorean god who takes this craft in 
hand. The Hill tribes are generally fond of jewellery. 
One woman was observed in a village with at least 
thirty rupees’ worth of silver round her neck, carved 
with strange devices; she had also brass rings on the 
left arm. Bangles are not so much worn; but all 


* Ochtertony. 


THE NEILGHERRIES. 


309 


jewellery depends much on the wealth of the wearer. 
Earrings are very common. Pearls are the favourite 
stones among the Burghers and others; so, if you 
wish to gain favour on the Hills, present your string 
of pearls. 

The cairns are said to be rather Kurrumber than 
Todar. The Kurrumbers are the enchanters of the 
Hills. They have the power to assume any form 
they like, beast or man. On some occasions they 
appear in the dress of women; and they decidedly 
are a most immoral and indecent race. There is 
a capital story, which I shall not inflict on you, 
about the Burghers having lost the wife of their chief 
through the enchantment of a Kurrumber. Southey 
could have made a poem out of this little incident, 
forming a Neilgherry enchantress—another Lorrinite 
—to recover the wife of the Burgher chief; perhaps 
to see her in a magic globe of liquid crystal “ in frame 
as diamond bright, yet black as jet,” and to form 
which,— 

“ A thousand eyes were quench'd in endless night.”* 

The Koder is an extremely filthy dog, on whom 
the Burgher looks down with the most supreme con¬ 
tempt. The filth of the Koders is as proverbial as 
their love of telling lies. A clean Koder, or a word 
of truth from his mouth, you must never expect to 
see or hear. The Burghers have a saying, that if you 
touch a black pot you are defiled, so, if you touch a 


* ‘ The Curse of Kehama,’ xi. p. 91. 


310 


SEETABULDEE LECTURES. 


Koder, or ask him a question, you get a lie, as they 
are abominably dirty, and have no truth in them. 
The Koder men wear their hair parted in the middle, 
like women, with a nob at the back of the head. 
Like the Todars, only in one respect, they wear no 
pugaries, - or turbans. The latter are worn by the 
Burghers. On market day, at Kotagherry, we saw 
several fine specimens of the Burgher race, which 
certainly, on the Hills, in respectability, ranks next to 
the Todar. 

One of these Burghers (or Buddaghas, as they are 
also styled) had his cloth slightly embroidered with 
silver, with the silver box containing the sacred Linga, 
likened to the Phallas of the Greeks and Egyptians, 
suspended by the usual string from his neck. To 
show the regard paid by a Burgher to this symbol, 
on one occasion it was touched by one of the un¬ 
privileged, when the wearer immediately committed 
suicide on the spot. 

There are four Brahmanical districts on the Hills, 
of which the deity is Maha-Lingam, or Lord of the 
Linga. There are five castes of Lingaites among the 
Burghers, amongst whom are some of their head men. 
In the Muni-hotti (from muni , ring, and hutti , village), 

the head man is called Nunjiah, after Nunjundah_ 

Siva—who as the Destroyer destroyed, swallowed 
poison. There is also a village styled Nunjiah near 
Mysore. Great offerings have from time to time 
been made to Siva, in his character of Nunjun- 
dah. Once a Mysore Rajah presented him with a 


THE NEILGHEKKIES. 


311 


silver horse ; and Burghers have honoured him with a 
gilt of silver dowers. So much, then, for the power 
of Siva’s creed on these hills, which is, as some 
ol you know, a most prominent one in the old Scan¬ 
dinavian as well as in the Hindu mythology. 

The Burghers always term a Todar village mund; 
the Todars call it murrt; the Burgher village is always 
hotti. Nadu signides county, or district. There are 
four or dve districts in the Neilgherries, each ending 
with the word nadu , or adu , like 4 shire ’ in England : 
such as the Khonda-nadu (small district), Purunga- 
nadoo (in which are Coonoor, Kotagherry, and Run- 
gasawmy’s Peak), and Maladoo, in which district is 
Ootacamund, and where many of the Todars reside. 
In this district is the highest mountain, Dodah-bettah. 
With reference to the mountainous Todar district of 
Maladoo, and with reference to what has been said 
about the primitive manners of the Todars, it may be 
interesting to call to your recollection what you may 
have learned while reading the early chapters of 
English history, that the original inhabitants of Eu¬ 
rope, as a learned antiquary (Perron) has dnely proved, 
were the same, all speaking one language, worshipping 
the same deities, and governed by similar laws. Suc¬ 
cessive invasions from different parts of Asia brought 
new changes ; and as the colonies went westward, the 
Greek, the Roman, and the Teutonic languages and 
customs were superinduced over the ancient Celtic. 
All the countries most accessible to strangers, or most 
subject to invasion, were drst changed ; “ those which 


312 


SEETABULDEE LECTURES. 


lay surrounded by mountains, or were in some measure 
retired by their situations, such as Wales, Cornwall, 
the highlands of Scotland, Ireland, Biscay, and Crim 
Tartary, all preserved their primitive manners ; ” and 
some of these countries adhere to some of the ancient 
Druidical customs, as far as the alteration of religion 
will admit, even at the present day. All this is cer¬ 
tainly in favour of Captain Congreve’s analogy be¬ 
tween the Druids and the Todars. 

I have not yet mentioned that the Kurrumbers 
are the sacrificing priests of the Burghers. Congreve 
compares the sacrifices of the Todars to their deity 
with those of the ancient Druids, or Celtic Scythians. 
A perfect calf having been found, it is brought to a 
thick and dark forest, where a pile of wood and brush 
is erected. The otficiator, having received a piece of 
money from the offerer, approaches, waving sacred 
leaves and “making many salutations in the East;” 
he then strikes the calf with a short thick club on the 
back part of its head, which blow generally proves 
fatal. The people then throw up “ their hands and 
eyes to heaven, and exclaim, May it be an offering 
from—naming first one and then another of their 
several places.” The ancient Druidical sacrifice of 
bulls under the oak has certainly its corresponding 
likeness to this ceremony on the Neilgherries. The 
sacrificing tribes of Burghers and Kurrumbers are, I 
believe, more cruel in their operations—pinching the 
calf to death being the mode of offering the sacrifice. 
This barbarous custom used to take place at a tree 



THE NEILGHERRIES. 


313 


near Kaity, a small mission station* (on the way to 
Coonoor) chiefly the gift of Mr. Casamajor to the 
German missionaries. 

In the last number of the ‘ Bi-Weekly Bombay 
Times/ you will find an extract from Captain Hark- 
ness’s work on the Neilgherries, detailing the obse¬ 
quies of a Todar chief, the description of which is very 
powerful and graphic. Twelve or fourteen Kodars, 
who are accustomed to give four or eight annas for the 
carcases of the slaughtered buffaloes are described as 
sitting on a hill which overlooked the valley, “ like 
harpies waiting the moment wherein to gorge them¬ 
selves with their destined prey.” Todar sacrifices for 
some time were not frequent. But, in the present 
year, their renewal during funerals, attended with 
cruelty and brutality, was reported by the collector of 
Coimbatoor (Mr. Thomas) to the Madras Government. 
Government has since ordered the Todars to confine 
themselves to the slaughter of two animals on each 
occasion, and to put them at once out of pain. Before 
this as many as twelve or fourteen buffaloes have been 
slaughtered on one occasion.—The Todar language is 
believed to be simply the old Canarese. It is said also 
that if you extract from the four principal languages 
of Southern India,—the Telagu, the Tamil, the Ma- 
layal’m, and the Canarese,—all the words that are 
Sanskrit, you have a language similar to the one which 
is at present spoken by the people of the Neilgherry 
Hills. 

* Three or four miles to the south of Ootacamund. 



314 


SEETABULDEE LECTURES 


As some of you are linguists you may know that 
the southern languages of India, not radically allied to 
Sanskrit, have their purest traces in the high Tamil; 
and the Tamil has the fewest Sanskrit words, while the 
Canarese has the most. Captain Congreve suggests a 
comparison of the Todar language with the Celtic and 
Gothic tongues. Some Todar words are put side by 
side with words of Western languages, such as Err 
(buffalo), in Todar ; Edra (milking time), in Celtic ; 
Trooda (eldest brother), in Todar; and Brooder, in 
Gothic; Phin (chatty or pot), in Todar; and Pan, 
in English ; Ther (the Deity), in Todar ; Thor, the 
same in Gothic; and so on. But these matters be¬ 
long more to the province of the able lecturer on 
Etymology, who recently treated you to a discourse 
on the secrets of words. It is difficult to put into a 
small compass what might interest you most about 
the tribes of the Blue Mountains. 

We all know there is a great deal in a name. 
Captain Macleod was the first collector, or military 
commissioner, of Coimbatoor, after Seringapatam was 
taken. Burgher children, to this day, bear his name 
in a corrupt form. They also corrupted that of my 
German friend, Mr. Metz ; and a commander-in-chief 
happening to pass by a village at the time of a birth, 
the Burghers thought it lucky to name their child 
after the European of distinction:—“ Kamand” is, 
therefore, one of the first names among the Burghers. 

In pursuing archaeological research among the 
hills, it is commonly observed how small a matter 


THE NEILGHERRIES. 


315 


may throw the Antiquary into error, reminding ns of 
Oldbuck’s A.D.L.L. in Scott’s immortal novel. You 
recollect, some of you, when thinking he might tell 
the world of his finding some interesting memorial of 
Agricola, it was pointed out to Oldbuck that it was 
nothing more than A.D.L.L., or “ Aikin Drums lang 
ladle /” 

There is great temptation to commit similar errors 
on the Neilgherries, not only in the contents of cairns, 
but also in the likeness existing between the names of 
things and persons, while the antiquary is making his 
researches. What a curious being is the antiquary in 
India ! Up among the hills, or over the plains before 
sunrise, ready to commence the part of a “ Siva” of 
mystery in science. He will make you out an abo¬ 
rigines you never dreamt of before; he will show you 
that knowledge can be gained from an old urn or a 
spear-head ; he will insist, with great propriety, that 
no man can understand the history of a country well 
without taking an interest in its antiquities and mytho¬ 
logy. All honour, then, be to the Indian antiquary! 
But, to go where a simple date may mislead him. There 
is a castle in the neighbourhood of Kotagherry, in the 
Parunganadoo, called Hutter Kote, that is, castle. 
Its chief’s name was Oodarya, a Polygar—about ninety- 
five years ago; or at the time the mistake was made, 
about ninety years ago. One learned writer on the 
Neilgherries made it 990 years ago, confounding the 
name of the Polygar Kin g,Adirya, of 990 yeais ago, with 
that of Oodarya of ninety. The more recent Oodarya 


316 


SEETABULDEE LECTURES. 


fell in love with a Burgher girl, and married her; but 
was eventually, under Hyder Ali, compelled to fly to 
the Wynaudoo. To the North, I may add, the base 
of the Blue Mountains rests upon the elevated land of 
Wynaud and Mysore. Another writer on the .Hills 
peoples four Burgher villages which have ceased to 
exist for 200 years. 

The Koder comes to the Burgher village with his 
wife and knife—the latter a rough instrument for cut¬ 
ting wood as well as for defence. The Koder carpen¬ 
ters are always paid by the Burghers in kind, such as 
grain, not in money. The Todar carries about with 
him a club and small axe. The common dress of this 
class is a cloth wound round the body, passed under the 
right arm, and thrown over the left shoulder. The 
Todar women environ their waists with a brass chain 
—like the women of the Scythians. At a Burgher 
funeral, a calf is bound to a post; sins are thrown at 
the calf’s feet. After this, the calf so used is re¬ 
vered ; if a female giving no milk, and if an ox doing 
no work. As to the burial of the two principal tribes : 
the common Burghers burn their dead; the Todars 
burn ; the Lingaite Burghers bury. I have stories of 
Mysore rajahs being compelled to fly to the Hills, when, 
of course, their Hindu subjects followed; and then 
comes Tippu Sultan, and they fly down below for suc¬ 
cour. Then they come again into the Toda-Nadu— 
threatening “ a curse” on a non-payment of 100 rupees 
by the Burghers, w 7 ho from their length of residence 
have really some claim on the soil; but I have no time 


THE NEILGHEKKIES. 


317 


to tell you what the Toclar and Burgher think of all 
this. I am not aware that the former, who passes so 
much of his time in Dream-land, even knows that 
Queen Victoria now governs India ! A Todar subject 
should certainly be sent to London, and his respectful 
agricultural subject, the Burgher, might go as his lord- 
in-waiting. In the public gardens he might appear in 
sacrificial costume as the Arch-Druid—the exhibition 
aided by a brace of stout Smithfield hulls—all under 
an oak-tree; or he might appear, under the auspices 
of some arch-humbug, in the opera of ‘ Norma,’ as 
“the last of his race,” for ten nights only! But let 
us trust that our Todar may never be submitted to 
such disgrace ! As there is generally a marriage to¬ 
wards the conclusion of a romance, I shall give you 
a remarkable custom connected with this ceremony 
among the Burghers on the Hills, which, says 
Congreve, “ calls to mind the marriage, and con¬ 
ditions of it, of Jacob with Rachel, as narrated in 
Scripture.” 

“ It is customary for one who is in want of labourers 
to promise his daughter in marriage to the son, or 
other relative of a neighbour, not in circumstances so 
flourishing as himself; and these engagements entered 
into, the intended bridegroom serves the father of his 
betrothed, as one of his own family, till the girl comes 
of age, when the marriage is consummated, and he 
becomes a partner in the general property of the 
family of his father-in-law.” So much for the 
“ science ” of marriage on the Blue Mountains ! 


318 


SEETABULDEE LECTUKES. 


You now see, take it in what light we will, what 
an interesting region is the Neilgherries for the anti¬ 
quarian and traveller. 

It is expected, by December of this year, that the 
Madras Railway line will be open as far as Tripatoor, 
140 miles from Madras, and eighty from Bangalore, 
so that travellers leaving Madras by the early after¬ 
noon train, may dine in Bangalore the next evening. 
In another year the line may be finished as far as 
Coimbatoor, when it will be a journey of about eighteen 
hours from Madras to the foot of the Hills. It is to 
be hoped that some improvement of the Coonoor 
Ghaut may he effected within that time. 

P.S. — c4 What?—all this—and not a single word 
about the flowers ?” exclaimed a lady who composed 
one of the audience at the above lecture. The writer 
immediately took shame to himself and pleaded guilty. 
True enough, everything cannot be said in an hour. 
But only imagine his leaving out the flowers ! Well, 
then, the Flora of the Neilgherries might have been 
honoured with the praises of all the best poets who 
have written on flowers. Burns and Campbell of our 
own land, and Bryant, Percival, and Longfellow of 
America ; each of them might have sung of flowers on 
the Blue Mountains :— 

“ Beautiful things ye are, where’er ye grow! ” 

and derived a moral from each of them. The Gera¬ 
nium, on the hills, attains great perfection. Whole 
hedges of it are to be seen around some of the dwell- 




THE NEILGHEKB1ES. 


319 


ings the bright colours affording a most exhilarating 
aspect. The Heliotropes here are superb. The wild 
roses and the cluster roses—the former very abundant 
are also very beautiful. The Fuschia also blooms in 
full beauty here ; and, with violets, carnations, hearts¬ 
ease, primroses, sweet-peas, wall-flowers, and other 
Flora of the English garden, the invalid of taste can 
here revel among the flowers. 


Note. 

Communication between Madras and the Neilgherries. 

The Overland Mail of the 14th of April (1862) announces that Madras 
is now placed in communication with the Hills by railway, a “ material 
train,” with passenger carriage attached, being advertised to start 
daily from the station of Sunkerydroog to Avenashy, the nearest point 
to the Neilgherries. The ‘ Friend of India’ remarks—and well he may 
do so—that Ootacamund has “ of late become a favourite resort of 
Calcutta people in the hot weather.” Eut from every part of India 
sojourners may be met with there,—all anxious to enjoy the splendid 
climate, which I have heard so much praised by retired Indian officers 
in Great Britain, that one might suppose, were they again located 
amidst the magnificent mountain scenery of the hills, enraptured they 
would go on exclaiming— 

“ Oh! if there be an Elysium on earth— 

It is this—it is this ! ” 




320 


SEETABULDEE LECTURES. 


II.—A SKETCH OF THE MOGULS, AND THE MOGUL 

EMPIRE IN INDIA* 

The quaint author of Elia , Charles Lamb, makes 
short work of the classification of the human species 
by simply dividing it into two distinct races, the men 
who borrow , and the men who lend ;—and to these two 
original diversities he thinks maybe reduced “ all those 
impertinent classifications of Gothic and Celtic tribes, 
white men, black men, red men.” The lenders are 
born degraded. They shall “ serve their brethren ”— 
the “open, trusting, generous” borrowers. Leaving, 
however, Elia’s pleasing satire, which some of us know 
to our cost to have much truth about it; and turning 
to the East, we behold few nations better than the 
Moguls at borrowing or getting money, in every pos¬ 
sible way, throughout a long career of conquest. Talk 
of English taxation in India. Only imagine if our reli- 

* Tliis lecture, to the compilation of which the writer endeavoured 
to give every care, is adapted to a course of historical and geogra¬ 
phical lectures which might be pursued in Military Schools. It was 
likewise intended for the amusement and instruction of the Ordnance 
Department, the European soldiers, and the clerks of the Government 
offices at Seetabuldee, the civil station at Nagpore, and where is the 
arsenal of the Nagpore force. 



THE MOGULS. 


321 


gion were taxed. While writing about Orissa and the 
Temple of Jaganath, I discovered that the Moguls 
drew annually nearly 100,000/., in the shape of tax, 
from the pilgrims alone. In Orissa, in Bengal, in 
Upper India, in Central Asia, the Mogul might be 
taken as one of Elia’s two races, while, in Europe, the 
bearded Jew for interest, or the good-natured moneyed 
Briton for charity, might represent the other. 

Few studies are more interesting than that of the 
particular races of men ; and, perhaps, I may add, few 
are more neglected. We see strange faces every day 
—become habituated to the sight—pass on in the 
bustle and excitement of life—forgetting them almost 
the moment after. Physiologists assert that individuals 
we casually meet in Europe (and the same applies to 
India) often have the countenance exactly resembling 
the Negro or Mongul face. There is more in a face 
than we dream of in our philosophy ! 

As some of you may be aware, there are five varie¬ 
ties of the human species—established by the German, 
Blumenbach; and these are the Caucasian, the Mon¬ 
golian, the Ethiopian, the American, and the fifth, or 
Malay variety. The Caucasian variety includes our¬ 
selves, and nearly all the great nations of the world, or 
all the human races in which the intellectual endow¬ 
ments of man have shone forth in the greatest native 
vigour, have received the highest cultivation, and have 
produced the richest and most abundant fruits in all 
that can dignify and ennoble the species.* 

* Lawrence’s ‘ Lectures on Physiology.’ 

Y 




322 


SEETABULDEE LECTUKES. 


How can we wonder, then, at the most enterprising 
in this variety—beyond a doubt the intelligent Eu¬ 
ropean—not only conquering, but holding in subjec¬ 
tion, with a view to civilize, all the other races ? 

This evening^ we have to do chiefly with the 
second, or Mongolian variety, which includes those 
Asiatics not belonging to the Caucasian or other varie¬ 
ties. The Mongolian tribes, so widely scattered over 
the continent of Asia, have, in the opinion of a learned 
lecturer on Physiology, been erroneously included, with 
others of different origin and formation, under the 
name of Tartars (Tatars) ; whereas the last-mentioned 
tribes, properly so called, belong to the first division 
of the human race. The Calmucks and other Mongo¬ 
lian nations which overran the Saracenf empire, under 
Chengiz Khan (or Zenghis), in the thirteenth century, 
and had entered Europe, have been described under 
the name of Tartars; whereas that appellation, or 
rather Tatars, properly belongs to the Western Asia¬ 
tics, who had been vanquished by the Mongols. The 
error has been propagated down to the present day,— 
even the great naturalist, Buffon, not having escaped 
it; and among celebrated and classical modern 
historians, Dr. Robertson mentions Chengiz as the 
Emperor of the Tartars. The fact is that Chengiz 
united these people with the Moguls. 

* Thursday, 6th of September, 1860. 

t When Mahomet erected his standard, the kingdom of Yemen was 
a province of the Persian Empire. From Mecca to the Euphrates, the 
Arabian tribes were confounded by the Greeks and Latins, under the 
general appellation of “ Saracens.”— Gibbon. 



THE MOGULS. 


323 


However, having been so long accustomed to con¬ 
sider the Moguls a tribe of Tartars and so many autho¬ 
rities sanctioning the licence, I shall not depart from 
it in the following sketch, merely remarking that the 
Western Asiatics, or Tartars vanquished by the Mo¬ 
guls, are placed in the first or Caucasian variety. The 
Caucasian race was so called on the supposition that 

they originally came from the valleys of the Caucasus, 

* 

between the Black and Caspian seas, not far from the 
cradle of mankind. 

Looking into a late c New and Comprehensive 
Dictionary of the English Language, as spoken and 
written,’ by Dr. Clarke, I find Mogul, “ a Tartar, 
Mongol; Emperor of Delhi.” Then, again, Tatar, or 
Tartar, is given as a inhabitant of Tartary; ill-natured 
woman,” &c. The latter definition may be considered 
a philological libel on the fair sex ; for, to be candid, 
many of us, in our journey through life, among men 
rather than women, have caught a Tartar !” 

The word “ Mogul,” I may mention, has no ety¬ 
mological connection with muslim , or musalman , which 
signify a true believer, a Mahomedan. The Arabic 
word, musallam, means preserving safe, in liberty. The 
Moosulmans of India are composed of the tribes called 
Sayud (descendants of the Prophet), Sheikh, Mogul, and 
Pathan. It has been well remarked that some writers 
on Indian affairs use the term Musalmen as the plural 
of Musalman, when with equal propriety they might 
write Romen and Germen, instead of Romans and Ger- 
Mughal is a Persian word, simply signifying a 

y 2 


mans. 


324 


SEETABULDEE LECTURES. 


Mogul, a native of Tartary or Turan. Even with this 
slight knowledge of a few words, should any contro¬ 
versialist endeavour to take you in on the subject, one 
or more of you will be able to prove to him that he has 
“ Caught a Tartar !” As amusement as well as in¬ 
struction is our object in these lectures, it may be well, 
before proceeding, to explain to those of you who are 
unaware of it, the origin of the expression, “ Caught a 
Tartar.” 

In some battle between the Russians and Tartars, 
a private soldier called out,—“ Captain, halloo there ! 
I’ve caught a Tartar ! ” “ Fetch him along then,” said 

the Captain. “ Aye, but he won’t let me,” said the 
man. The Tartar in fact had caught him. So when 
a man thinks to take another in, and gets bit himself, 
they say, “ He has caught a Tartar.” 

In an interesting work, by Captain Rhodes, of Her 
Majesty’s 94th Regiment, entitled ‘ Tents and Tent- 
Life, from the earliest Ages to the present Time,’ there 
are some remarks corroborating what I have just been 
saying regarding the Tartars and the Moguls. The 
Mongol race, characterized by the dark yellow colour, 
flat nose, strong cheek-bones, large ears, and absence 
of beard, are said to differ widely from the Tartar or 
Turki tribes, who have “ the same striking features 
of the finely-formed and light-coloured Caucasian 
family, to which they belong.” In the opinion of Cap¬ 
tain Rhodes, the Scythians who devastated Media and 
Persia in the sixth century before Christ, were Moguls. 
So were “ Ghengis Khan and Kublai Khan.” And 



THE MOGULS. 


325 


the Moguls and Tartars, being addicted to the same 
nomadic mode of life are consequently often con¬ 
founded.* Having casually mentioned a book about 
tents, habitations so necessary to the nomad, or no¬ 
madic tribes of Asia, and, perhaps, too much of the 
time of an ordnance officer being taken up with the 
reality, an interesting observation from the author just 
quoted may not here be considered out of place— 
“That the earliest mention we have of tents is in 
Genesis iv. 20, where we are told that 4 Jabel was 
the father of such as dwell in tents and of such 
as have cattle meaning that he was the inventor of 
tents , and of pitching those moveable habitations in the 
fields. ”f 

And it may be remarked that, whatever improve¬ 
ments we have made in military equipment, whatever 
advance in military science, we have certainly much 
yet to learn about tents, with our elephants and camels, 
and bullocks laden with pegs, and mallets, and poles, 
and connaughts, and “flies,” and ropes, to carry two 
or three ; whereas, the Calmuck Tartar conical-shaped 
tent of centuries ago could be packed up with great 
ease, and a camel could carry five or six of them.”j 
Equipped in this manner we might more speedily 
have outrun the once redoubtable Tantia Topee in his 
rapid marches. In the matter of light equipment, in 
this, as in some other respects, the Frenchman per¬ 
haps is our superior. He might even cook his dinner 

* «Tents and Tent Life,’ p. 66. t Introduction. 

t Page 47. 


326 


SEETABULDEE LECTUEES. 


—Tartar-like in all save eating the horseflesh—under 
a large umbrella, while John Bull would be blustering, 
and breaking pegs in the sun with a view to the pitch¬ 
ing of his tent. 

After this digression, I proceed to remark that the 
different races of men in Europe have more or less 
amalgamated, and their languages have been inter¬ 
mixed. So it has been in Asia, containing, as you 
know, Chaldea, the cradle of mankind. The Turks, 
about whom the late war with Russia has wrapped so 
much interest of a political nature, were no other than 
Tartars who had dwelt in the northern regions of 
Asia from time immemorial, half shepherds, half 
soldiers, roving with their flocks and families from the 
borders of the Caspian Sea to the Great Wall of 
China. 

From the occasional wisdom and excellence of 
some of the Mogul kings—and perhaps queens—in 
the East, and other signs of greater intellectual power 
than one would ascribe to a wild, destructive, borrow¬ 
ing, thieving, roving Calmuck, or “ Tartar,” of the ex¬ 
treme east,* or Mogul, to the Tartars of more central 
and western Asia, or those in the Caucasian variety 
—in which also are the Turks—may probably be 
found more than is generally dreamt of in the 
mental element which founded the Mogul empire in 

* The Mongols, Calmncks, and Burats, are three great divisions, 
of which each includes many tribes scattered over the middle of Asia. 
Their first distinct appearance in history is under the name of Huns 
(Hiung-nu of the Chinese) in the first century of the Christian era._ 

Lawrence. See also Humboldt. 




THE MOGULS. 


327 


India, which empire, here and in other quarters of the 
world, from the insatiable love of war and desire of 
power, aided by the false belief which in later times 
accompanied such characteristics, is eloquently styled 
by Gibbon as “ rather the scourge than the benefactor 
of mankind.” What a scourge ! Attila with his Huns 
in the centre of Europe ! And again, Chengiz with 
his hordes in the middle of Asia. However this may 
be, in tracing the rise and progress of the Ottomans, or 
sovereigns of Constantinople, it is necessary for the 
better understanding of history, to describe the great 
eruption of the Moguls and Tartars, and to review the 
nations, “ the immediate, or remote authors of the 
fall of the Roman empire.” But to do this well must 
he left to the historian, as but little can be said within 
the compass of our sketch. The countries between 
China, Siberia, and the Caspian Sea, have poured forth 
their numbers to subvert the thrones of Asia and 
Europe—in short to destroy almost without the hope 
of renovation. 

I hesitate not to assert that if phrenologists, some 
centuries ago, had held as they do now their omnis¬ 
cient power over the human head, without doubt they 
would have allotted the bump of “destructiveness” 
in the greatest degree to a Tartar. Sir William Jones, 
in giving the largest boundaries once assignable to 
Tartary, evidently includes Mongolia. By carefully 
following these boundaries you will perceive how much 
greater the country called Tartary formerly extended. 
. I shall endeavour to give you some idea of them on 



328 


. SEETABULDEE LECTURES. 


the map of Asia.* Conceive a line drawn from the 
mouth of the Dinaper or Dneiper , and, bringing it 
back across the Euxine , or Black Sea, so as to include 
the peninsula of Krim, extend it along the foot of the 
Caucasus by the rivers Cur and Aras, to the Caspian 
Lake, from the opposite shore of which, in an easterly 
direction, continue the line beyond the Chinese wallf 
to the White Mountain and the country of Yesso, or 
Yetso; skirting the borders of Persia, India , China , 
Corea , but including part of Russia, with all the 
districts which lie between the Glacial Sea and that 
of Japan.\ By the Glacial Sea is meant the sea of 
Okotsk, which washes the western shore of Kampt- 
chatka, and part of the Russian Empire in the East. 
And thus is pointed out to you the former extent 
of the vast, plains of Scythia, or Tartary, about one 
hundred degrees of longitude, or upwards of 5000 
miles, from which emigrated the tribes of hunters and 
shepherds, who in every age have inhabited them. 
This country appears to be in a great measure com¬ 
prised of what is now styled Mongolia, that is, eastern, 
or Chinese Tartary, and western, or independent 
Tartary. In a former lecture, while alluding to the 
supposed aborigines of the Neilglierries, it was re¬ 
marked that from Scythia sprang the three great 
people who overran Europe,—the Slavonic tribes, the 

* Here point ont on the Map. 

t The Great Wall of China, erected as a protection against the in¬ 
roads of the Hiung-nu (Hnns), 214 b.c. 

% Vide Sir W. Jones’s works. Anniversary Discourse, 21st of Feb. 
1788, before Asiatic Society in Calcutta. 



THE MOGULS. 


329 


Goths or Germans, and the Celts. The ancient 
Britons, of whom our worthy chaplain gave you such 
vivid and interesting pictures, were simply Celtic Scy¬ 
thians. From successive invasions, from different parts 
of Asia, came new changes. The Huns were impelled 
towards the west by the progress of the Chinese 
power; and in course of time, as the colonies went 
westward, “ the Greek, the Roman, and the Teutonic 
languages were superinduced over the ancient Celtic.” 
The word Teutonic, some of you may not be aware, 
is derived from the Teutons, a German people, who 
founded the English nation, laws, and language. Let 
us ponder for a moment over the tide of mingled 
“ Turks ” and Mongols, which poured itself on the 
west. But this might only bring us hack to the de¬ 
cline of the Roman empire, in the fourth century of 
our era, when that dreadful enemy, the Huns, ap¬ 
peared in Europe. Let us go back to the remote 
parts of Eastern Asia, from which the stream of 
migratory nations had been moved in its onward 
course for several centuries before our era. # In the 
middle of the first century before it, Julius Caesar 
first beholds the British Celt. Shakspeare’s Hamlet, 
in imagination, brings the dust of Alexander the 
Great to a beer barrel. “ Why may not imagination 
trace the noble dust of Alexander till he find it 
stopping a bung-hole ? ” So we may trace back the 
Celt—perhaps our own forefather—to a shepherd or 
a hunter on the plains of Scythia, eating horse-flesh, 


* Humboldt. 


330 


SEETABULDEE LECTURES. 


and living in a hide-coloured tent; perhaps belonging 
to a tribe under the discipline of some ancestor of a 
future Great Mogul. 

The Tartars appear to be a nation of great anti¬ 
quity, for we find them dating their origin 4000 years 
before the founder of the Mogul empire, Chengiz 
Khan, who was born in the year 1164. The first 
appearance of the Mahomedans in India was at the 
time of their first expedition to Cabul, in Afghan¬ 
istan, a.d. 664, # just 500 years before the birth of 
Chengiz. 

It is necessary at this stage to say a word about 
Mahomet, or Mahomed, who, born at Mecca in the 
year 571, of the noblest of the Arabian tribes (of the 
first, or Caucasian race), is said to have entered on 
his “mission” possessed of three important things, 
viz. considerable wealth, a name famous for courage 
and military skill, and a reputation for learning. The 
solitary man of thirteen hundred years ago must, even 
in his most ambitious musings, have little thought 
that as late as the nineteenth century it would be 
written that Islam “ will wither away,” that the stran¬ 
ger having planted a firm foot on the banks of the 
Nile, should “sit in the seats of the Faithful. ”f 
Only imagine, out of the population of the whole 
earth, about 1,200,000,000, the followers of Mahomet 
at present number 160,000,000. So much for the 

* Or in tlie year of the Hegira, or from the prophet’s flight from 
Mecca, forty-four years.— Elphinstone. 

f Eothen. 


THE MOGULS. 


331 


influence of “ the solitary of Mount Hera, the preacher 
of Mecca, and the conqueror of Arabia.” And all his 
followers, since the birth of Mahomedanism, have 
steadily aimed at the establishment of universal do¬ 
minion. 

As you will now soon find Mogul and Moosulman 
connected together in history, I may also mention 
that Mahmood of Ghizni was the first Moosulman 
conqueror who made any permanent impression on 
India, where he was known as the “ image-breaker.” 
The Moguls, a tribe of Tartars, as before stated, were 
unknown to the world before the appearance of Chen- 
giz Khan. He, through his great ability, bedimmed 
by cruelty and ferocity, first planted in his country¬ 
man that destructive ambition which afterwards laid 
waste the fertile plains of so many beautiful countries ; 
and all this was accomplished by one who, in that 
dark age, obtained the title of “ King of Kings,” “ Dis¬ 
poser of Thrones and of Diadems.” The ancestors 
of Chengiz Khan appear to have been celebrated 
throughout the country for their valour and increase 
of the Mogul tribe. Pisouka, the father of Chengiz, 
we are informed, having subdued and slain a great 
Tartar chief, named his son Temugin after his illus¬ 
trious victim. Temugin, the future Chengiz, received 
an excellent education, at least what was considered 
excellent among the Tartars, a people to whom, from 
the earliest ages, literature was almost unknown. 
The Turks and Huns, Tartar tribes, had no letters; 
the Huns, it is said, never even heard of them. 


332 


SEETAJ3ULDEE LECTURES. 


At this time Tartary was divided into numerous 
tribes; and like the Arabians or other nations, who 
lead for the most part a nomadic life, they appear to 
have been continually at war with one another. Te- 
mugin, on seeing himself the master of very extensive 
dominions, adopted the resolution to render his power 
in some degree lawful, by the public homage of all the 
princes within the precincts of his empire. He con¬ 
voked them at Karakorum, his capital, where they all 
met on the appointed day clothed in white, among 
whom were the princes of the blood, attired like the 
rest. The Emperor, with the diadem encircling his 
brow, advanced into the midst of this august assembly, 
seated himself on his throne, and received the com¬ 
pliments of the Khans and- other nobility. They then 
proceeded to confirm to him and his successors the 
sovereignty of the Mogul empire, and all the nations 
subject to it; and declared the descendants of their 
princes divested of all their rights. After his sub¬ 
sequent victories he renewed a similar inauguration at 
the head of his army, with less pompous ceremonial, 
but more affecting simplicity. He took his place on an 
eminence of turf, whence he arrangued the assembly 
with an eloquence that was natural to him.* He then 
sat on a black felt which had been spread on the earth ; 
and an orator appointed for the occasion addressed 
him in the most laudatory terms, concluding with,— 
“ If you abuse the authority lodged in your hands, 


* Anquetil’s ‘ Universal History.’ 


THE MOGULS. 


333 


you will become black as this felt; that is to say, 
wretched and an outcast.” This said felt was long 
preserved as a sacred relic among the Moguls. Seven 
Khans then respectfully assisted the Emperor to rise, 
conducted him to the throne, and proclaimed him chief 
of all the Mogul empire. Fortunately for his cause, 
Kokja, one of his relations, was present; a man who, 
by strictly practising the rigid duties of religion, had 
gained the reputation of being inspired. He approached 
the prince and said,—“ I am come by Divine order to 
inform you that it is God’s pleasure you should hence¬ 
forward take the name of Jenghis Khan; and you 
must publish it to your subjects, that in future they 
may give you that appellation.” This title signifies 
the greatest Khan of Khans. The denomination was 
ratified by the most extravagant demonstrations of joy. 
The Mogul, persuaded of the truth of the revelation, 
considered the rest of the world in no other light than 
as a conquest, which belonged, by divine right, to their 
great Khan. His name is also written Chengis or 
Chengiz. He first invaded China (a.d. 1206), after 
having subdued almost all Tartary, the numerous hordes 
of which country had already bowed at the feet of his 
father. After plundering and desolating, and over¬ 
throwing the dynasty of Song, and taking Yen-King, 
their capital, the Moguls became masters of the coun¬ 
try. The Chinese Emperor was slain; in five years 
Chengiz found himself master of nearly all China. He 
next conquered Corea, turned westward and subdued 
Tibet, entered Kashmeer and established his power on 



334 


SEETABULDEE LECTURES. 


the borders of Chorassan, at that time governed by 
Mahomed, a famous Sultan. 

Colonel Dow informs us that the climate of Cho¬ 
rassan is excellent, and the most temperate of all 
Persia. Nothing can equal the fruitfulness of its soil. 
The province of Chorassan, in short, abounds with 
everything that can contribute to make a country rich 
and agreeable. The whole face of the country was 
almost covered with great cities, when it was invaded 
and ruined by Chengiz Khan. The beauty of this 
province, in the old Persian meaning the <c Province of 
the Sun,” has been sung by Moore in ‘ Lallah Rookh.’ 
Some of you may recollect the 4 Veiled Prophet of 
Khorassan,’ a magnificent Oriental poem, commenc¬ 
ing:— 

“ Tn that delightful province of the Sun, 

The first of Persian lands he shines upon, 

Where all the loveliest children of his beam, 

ElowTets and fruits, blush over every stream— 
****** 

There on that throne, to which the blind belief 
Of millions raised him, sat the Prophet Chief, 

The great Mokanna.” 

This impostor, or “ Veiled Prophet,” created great 
alarm throughout the Eastern empire upwards of 
eleven hundred years ago, and was styled Mokanna , 
from the veil of silver or golden gauze which he al¬ 
ways wore. And now to return to Mahomed, Sultan 
of Chorassan, or, as it is sometimes called, Karazon, 
who was now one of the most powerful monarchs of 
the East. He ruled over nearly the whole of Persia, 
and a great part of Northern Hindustan. Such a thing 


THE MOGULS. 


335 


could not fail to excite the jealousy of Chengiz; the 
Mogul Emperor, therefore, advanced against him and 
subdued his country. The Czar of Russia, at length 
afraid of his dominions in the East, immediately took 
up arms, hut was defeated by the all-conquering Chen¬ 
giz. “ Prosperity,’’ writes the historian, “ was his con¬ 
stant attendant and never quitted him to the tomb.” 
Having given a code of laws to the Moguls, after a 
reign of twenty-two years (a.d. 1227) he expired in 
his native land, in the sixty-fourth year of his age. I 
have, perhaps, dwelt rather too long upon the actions 
of this great warrior ; but considering that he was the 
founder of the mighty empire, which hereafter as¬ 
sumed such a figure in the East, it is justifiable. 

It may be here mentioned, with reference to the 
attempt made to introduce Christianity into China, by 
the Papal missionaries of the Mongolian period, that 
one result of the extraordinary career of Chengiz 
Khan was the opening of the way for travellers to and 
fro across the vast plains of Central Asia. What was 
impracticable while the nomadic races of Tartary were 
without a head, and while Asia was split into small 
kingdoms, “ became easy of accomplishment when the 
short-lived empire of the Moguls was formed.” Some 
celebrated European adventurers were then in China; 
and, among others, John of Pekin, a dignified mis¬ 
sionary from the Pope, who attempted, during a 
lengthened residence, to establish a permanent mission 
in the metropolis of the Grand Khan. 

The wonderful increase of the power of Chengiz 


336 


SEETABULDEE LECTURES. 


shows what resolution will accomplish, even in a petty 
chief, one who, through talent and bravery, conquered 
the greater part of Asia. I may now remark that the 
dynasty of Ghaur had gained possession of most of the 
provinces on the right of the Indus; and, in 1194, 
after succeeding the dynasty of Ghizni, had founded 
the Afghan empire in India. According to the Abbe 
Raynal and other writers, the Afghans, or Patans, are 
said to have been Arabian merchants settled on the 
coasts of Hindustan, who, taking advantage of the 
weakness of the several kings and nations who had 
admitted them, easily seized upon many provinces, 
and founded a vast empire, of which Delhi became the 
capital. Before this the seat of government had been 
at Lahore. In fact, with Mahmood Ghore, or Ghaury, 
in 1191, may he said, in the words of an able writer, 
to have commenced “ that storm of desolation which 
swept the Hindu monarchs of Hindustan from their 
thrones, and ended in seating a Mussulman dynasty 
on the throne of Delhi.” It was this same Mahmood, 
or Mahomed, who, at the end of the twelfth century, 
defeated Prit-hiraj, the last Hindu monarch of Delhi, 
“ after whose death the banner of the Crescent waved 
for five centuries over this ancient capital.” 

As the lectures of our worthy and accomplished 
Chief Engineer, as well as those of the gallant lecturer 
on Lucknow, have made this word Delhi so familiar to 
us of late, it may not he uninteresting to look at the 
origin of the name of that city so notorious in the 
late Revolt as the rallying point of the rebels. Ferishta, 


THE MOGULS. 


337 


the Persian historian, writes that, some eight or nine 
hundred years ago, when Delhi was founded, in conse¬ 
quence of its soil being so soft as not to admit of a peg 
holding with any firmness, its name was called Delhi.” 
On this, it has been observed, that Delhi, if such were 
the case, is doubtless from the Hindustani Dhil-a, 
which means lose not tight; and zummeen , ground in 
Hindustani, being feminine, may account for the termi¬ 
nation of Delhi, or the letter i. Such, then, is an 
attempt to arrive at the origin of the name of that 
famous city, associated with Moslem greatness, with 
the names of Mahmoud, of Ghuznee, of Tammerlane, 
of Baber, of Acbar, and Arungzebe ; and through the 
seven gates of which, to use a remark similar to one 
made by the gallant lecturer on Delhi, have issued the 
armies that “ subdued the Hindu to Mussulman rule, 
and through them have poured in the horses and 
fruits of Cabul, the armour of Oude, the shawls of 
Cashmere, the tributes of a hundred princes to the 
glory of the Great Mogul.”* 

“ The irruption of the Moguls,” says Elphinstone, 
“ was the greatest calamity that has fallen on mankind 
since the Deluge. They had no religion to teach, and 
no seeds of improvement to sow, nor did they offer 
an alternative of conversion or tribute; their only 
object was to slaughter and destroy; and the only 
trace they left was in the devastation of every country 
which they visited.” It may be well also to state that 
the Tartars and Moguls were simply idolaters. Some 

* ‘ Quarterly Review,’ No. 204, October 5, 184/, p. 546, 

7 


338 


SEETABULDEE LECTUEES. 


of them had been converted by the Christian and 
Mahomedan missionaries. Islam was chiefly forced 
on them through their conquests. The Great Khan 
himself appears to have been, like the Karen of Bur- 
mah, a deist. Humboldt corroborates the opinion of 
Elphinstone, saying that these “ Asiatic hordes were 
uninfluenced by any religious zeal before they entered 
Europe.” And, again, that the Mongolians have 
“ never occupied themselves with the conversion of 
conquered nations.” They do not appear to have 
been very difficult of conversion themselves; and 
when the Mahomedan religion spread we find the 
descendants of Chengiz even making pilgrimages to 
the shrine of the Prophet. I have already mentioned 
Malimood of Ghizni, a Tartar, who extirpated, wherever 
he came, the Hindu religion, and established the Ma¬ 
homedan in its stead. I have also mentioned to you 
the dynasty of Ghaur, who came from a rude district, 
situated on the loftiest branch of Hindu Cosh, or the 
Indian Caucasus, where it borders on Tibet and Turk- 
istan. 

Connected with this famous dynasty I shall now 
remark that Kootub, Mahomed Ghore’s slave and 
successor, was the first real Mahomedan sovereign of 
India (1206). Chengiz Khan had made himself 
master of all the territory from the southern confines 
of the Punjaub northwards, hut it does not appear 
he advanced further, which, at that time, saved India 
from the terrible Mogul conquerors. Altumsh, the 
Mahomedan, sat on the throne of Hindustan from 


THE MOGULS. 


339 


1211 to 1236. I should have mentioned that at the 
very end of the twelfth century Bengal and Behar 
were subjugated by the Mahomedans. Before at¬ 
tempting Bengal, the conqueror is said to have been 
tried in single combat with an elephant. But the 
Hindu kingdom fell without even striking a blow. 
I may also state that the conquest of the Deccan 
was the chief event on the accession of the third 
Mahomedan dynasty, or that of the Khilzies, which 
succeeded the race of Ghaur. At the end of the 
thirteenth century Alla-ood-deen, who carried in his 
veins the blood of the famous Sultan of Chorassan, 
and nephew to the reigning Emperor, who founded 
the new dynasty, began the conquest. While go¬ 
vernor of Oude, Alla had extended his power into 
the Deccan, and, on gaining the throne, he pushed 
his conquests over the greater part of the south of 
India, probably the first time that the land had been 
passed over by conquerors not of some of the forms 
of the Hindu faith. The spoil on this expedition was 
excessive, Ferishta estimating it at 100,000,000/. 
sterling. 

In the year 1244 the Moguls had made an irrup¬ 
tion into the eastern provinces of Bengal by way of 
Thibet. This has been styled the “ last surge of the 
Mogul inundation.” It may have originated from 
the descendants of Chengiz carrying out his last 
orders to complete the subjugation of China, and, 
which being done, they turned their thoughts to 
India. The Moguls had occupied Ghizni, Cabul, 

z 2 


340 


SEETABULDEE LECTUKES. 


Candahar, Balkh, and Herat. In the year 1258 an 
envoy arrived from the grandson of Chengiz to compli¬ 
ment the Mahomedan sovereign of Delhi (Nazir-ood- 
deen). At this time the Moguls made no attempt to 
invade Hindustan. Gradually the race of Chengiz 
Khan lost power. In 1337 it was no longer recognized ; 
the empire was in a state of anarchy and confusion. 
In 1359, while Tartary, and China, and Persia were in 
an unsettled condition, one man was coming forward 
to take advantage of such a state of things. This was 
the famous Timour Bee, known hy the name of 
Tammerlane, commonly styled a Tartar, who over¬ 
threw all the thrones of Chengiz and his descendants 
from China to Syria. He vanquished also Bajazet, 
Emperor of the Turks. The destructive days of 
Chengiz were revived. Nature wept at the birth 
of one who has been styled his descendant, the 
mighty but cruel Tammerlane. The scene is one 
of cheerful industry and pleasant repose :— 

“ Yet, yet a little, and destructive slaughter 
Shall rage around, and mar the beauteous prospect; 

Pass but an hour, which stands betwixt the lives 
Of thousands and eternity, what change 
Shall hasty death make in you glittering plain. 

Oh, thou fell monster, war! that in a moment 
Lay’st waste the noblest part of the creation, 

The boast and masterpiece of the great Maker, 

That wears in vain th’ impression of his image, 

Unprivileged from thee.” * 

I have been recently reading an essay “ On the 
Importance of Energy in Life.”f This practical quality 

* ‘ Tammerlane,’ a Tragedy, by N. Eowe, act i. sc. 1. 
f ‘Frazer’s Magazine,’ No. 367. July, 1860. 


the moguls. 


341 


is pei haps more essential to success in everything we 
attempt than most of our other qualities put together. 
Determine to succeed and never think of failure. Bring¬ 
ing out his subject, the pleasant essayist touches on the 
Moguls, “ Energy tainted with ferocity was the trait 
of the Tartar conquerors Zinghis Khan and Timour, 
as it was of the most warlike Turkish sultans; and 
as it was, though without the ferocity, of Baber, the 
first of the Great Moguls.” In Indian history, I may 
observe, Tippoo Sultan, of Mysore, and Scindiah, the 
Mahratta chief, are good examples of energy in Oriental 
life. Of later times, Tantiah Topee, who was not far 
from honouring Seetabuldee and the arsenal with a 
visit, was another fair example. Nature seems to 
give this dominating quality equally to the savage 
and the sage. 

Energy is in short the lever of action in life. To 
the rising youth of India, to those who attend this 
course of lectures, too much cannot be said on what 
extraordinary difficulties may be overcome by the 
power of energy, which quality, combined with a well- 
directed intellect, will surely work for good. 

Tammerlane invaded Turkistan, Kipsac, Russia, 
Hindustan, Syria, Anatolia, Armenia, and Georgia, 
without a hope or desire of preserving those provinces. 
From thence he departed, laden with spoil; but he 
left behind him neither troops to overawe the contu¬ 
macious, nor magistrates to protect the obedient na¬ 
tives. Whatever might be the blessings of his admi¬ 
nistration they evaporated with his life. He wrote the 


342 


SEETABULDEE LECTUEES. 


famous ‘Institutions/ to give mankind an idea of a 
perfect monarchy, which on earth can never be attained. 
The ambition of his children and grandchildren—a 
very common failing among the great—was to reign, 
rather than govern, a system which invariably ends in 
making numerous enemies. 

Tammerlane was born a.d. 1336, and died in 1405. 
From his earliest childhood he was a soldier. He 
appears to have been a leading boy at school, though 
we have no record that he was a bully, that most de¬ 
spicable and cowardly of all human characters. On 
one occasion, when the question was raised as to the 
best mode of sitting, young Timour replied that the 
best mode is on the knees, for “ Mohammed has com¬ 
manded, ‘ whilst in prayer, sit on your knees .’ 99 In a 
life written by himself he says, “When we came out from 
school we began to play as children; but I, assuming 
the command, stood upon a high mound, and having 
divided them into two armies, caused them to fight a 
sham battle, and when I saw one of the parties worsted, 
I sent them assistance.” Such was Tammerlane in 
his youth, not unlike Napoleon at the Military 
School of Brienne. The Mogul Emperor also seems 
to have possessed that stern obstinacy in after-life 
which so characterized the French Emperor, which his 
clever nephew seems, in some degree, to have inherited. 

The reigns of Chengiz and Tammerlane form the 
most interesting periods of Mogul history, previous to 
the commencement of the Mogul empire in India, 
which began towards the end of the fifteenth century 


MOGUL EMPIRE IN INDIA. 


343 


(about 1498), when we find the Moguls fairly in pos¬ 
session of Hindustan. A grandson of Tammerlane’s, 
by name Sultan Baber, founded this empire. Baber 
was a distinguished scholar, excelled in poetry and 
music, and wrote his own language with elegance and 
perspicuity. He was a model of virtue in that dark 
age, and is highly commended by the Persian historian, 
Ferishta. He died about 1530, and was succeeded by 
Humaiom, who was as unfortunate as his father had 
been the reverse. He died in 1555; and Acbar, his 
son, mounted the Mogul throne. Acbar, with judi¬ 
cious government, became one of the greatest of the 
Mogul emperors. To Akbar-abad, or Agra, your 
attention has been already drawn by another lecturer.* 
It was a mere village till the sixteenth century, when it 
became an imperial city ; and it continued to be the 
chief seat of the Mogul government down to the reign of 
Shah Jehan,who, in 1647, transferred his court to Delhi, 
that is the new, or present city, called Shah-Jehan-pore 
—the City of the King of the World, the famous but 
now fallen Delhi, founded by Shah Jehan. Acbar 
reigned fifty-one years. It was in his reign that the 
overthrow of the independent sovereignty of Orissa 
took place (a.d. 1558). Towards the close of that 
century, the Mahomedans took entire possession, 
and did everything in their power to annoy the pious 
Hindus; and we now begin to picture in imagination 
a most ludicrous, though it was to them a most serious 
business, namely, that of the High Priest ol Jagannath, 

* Colonel (now Major-General) Boileau. 


344 


SEETABULDEE LECTURES. 


with other zealous assistants, stealing away, in a co¬ 
vered cart, with three carefully wrapped-up images, to 
conceal their hideous treasures in the hills adjacent to 
the beautiful and picturesque Chilka lake, until a 
favourable opportunity occurred for again setting them 
upon their throne in the temple. From this petty 
warfare the much talked-of, but little-understood, pil¬ 
grim tax, which I have already casually mentioned, 
derived its origin. Selim, a relation of‘Achar, next 
ascended the throne, under the name of Jehangir, 
which signifies “ Conqueror of the World,”—a prince 
too much addicted to lascivious pleasures to do much 
good as ruler of an empire. In 1628 Shah-Jehan, his 
son (“King of the World”), ascended the throne; he 
was the tenth in regular descent from Tammerlane, 
which name I believe to be a corruption of Timour 
Lenk. # 

As has been said, Shah Jehan founded new Delhi. 
Old Delhi, founded by the Patan kings, on the ruins 
of the Hindu city of Indraput, was no more. New 
Delhi was destined to stand by and look on while the 
English were being murdered in 1857. She has re¬ 
ceived her well-merited punishment; and, it is pro¬ 
bable, only the great Nadir Shah’s irruption brought 
the like of what was transacted in that city after its 
capture. Numbers of treacherous rebels, high and 
low, were tried by a special commission, and hanged. 
In the days of Jehangir and Shah Jehan, however, 

* Timour is the Turkish name for Iron. Lenk (lung) is, in the 
Persian language, Lame. * 


MOGUL EMPIRE IN INDIA. 


345 


they would, doubtless, have been “ strung up” without 
trial by a special commission. But now, as after, our 
Governor-General, though India had been in jeopardy, 
tempered revenge with justice and mercy ! 

It was during the reign of Shah Jehan that Bernier, 
the celebrated traveller, made his tour of the Mogul 
empire, and of which, during its greatest splendour, 
he has left us the most interesting description in the 
world. The names of the famous Moguls, I may here 
mention, were generally allegorical, such as, Aureng- 
Zebe, “The Throne’s Ornament,” who was the fourth 
son of the great Mogul Shah-Jehan. The youngest 
was Morad Bakhe, “ The Desire Accomplished.” Noor 
Mahil, “ The Light of the Seraglio,” was the name 
first given to the w T ife of Jehangir, but was after¬ 
wards changed to Noor-Jehan-Begum, signifying 
“The Light of the World,” who, says Bernier, 
“wielded the sceptre, while her husband abandoned 
himself to drunkenness and dissipation.” 

Bernier considered India under the Mogul govern¬ 
ment as speedily going to ruin. Justice and impar¬ 
tiality did not exist. One of this traveller’s anecdotes 
will illustrate the fact. A young man laid before 
Shah Jehan a complaint that his mother, a banian, 
was possessed of immense wealth, about 200,000 
rupees, who yet, on account of alleged ill-conduct, 
withheld from him all participation. The Emperor, 
tempted by hearing of so large a fortune, sent foi the 
lady, and commanded her, in open assembly, to give 
her son 50,000 rupees, and to pay to himself 100,000, 


346 


SEETABULDEE LECTURES. 


at the same time desiring her to withdraw. The 
woman, however, by loud clamour, again procured 
admittance, and coolly said :—“ May it please your 
Majesty, my son has certainly some claim to the 
goods of his father; but I would gladly know what 
relation your Majesty bears to the merchant, my 
deceased husband, that you make yourself his heir.” 
The Great Mogul laughed heartily, ordered her to 
depart, and no exaction to be made ! 

As connected with the court of the Great Mogul 
at this time, I wish to give you a brief sketch of the 
Indian career of the famous Sir Thomas Roe, he being 
a splendid example of those men who are gifted with 
the great “ Anglo-Saxon virtues of energy and perse¬ 
verance.” Sir Thomas, # after a voyage of discovery 
to South America, in which he was one of the first to 
explore the mighty river Amazon, in January, 1615, 
was commissioned by King James I. to be Ambassador 
to the “ Great Mogul, or King of India.” This was 
just fifteen years after the establishment, of “ the 
United Company of London Merchants trading to the 
East Indies.” Many of us have been accustomed to 
limit our knowledge of the Great Mogul to having 
seen liis grotesque likeness on a pack of cards, or 
hearing his name casually mentioned in song or story. 
But probably some of you are not aware that it was 
the insolence and rapacity of the Portuguese, which, 
being particularly obnoxious to the Mogul. Govern¬ 
ment, led the great Oriental Court to favour the 


* Born in Essex, in the year 1580. 



MOGUL EMPIEE IN INDIA. 


347 


presence of an English ambassador. The Portuguese 
had been signally defeated by our ships off Surat. 
And now the time had come to obtain more favour¬ 
able terms of trade through means of a clever envoy ; 
and at home, as I have told you, the royal choice fell 
upon Sir Thomas Roe. The King sent a letter to 
“ Selim Shah (Jehangir) the Great Mogul,” by Sir 
Thomas, “ as also a draft of a treaty of commerce and 
alliance for the Mogul’s acceptance and signature.” 
I must give you the opening of the Royal epistle. 
“ James, by the grace of Almightie God the creator of 
heaven and earth, King of Great Britaine, France, and 
Ireland, defender of the Christain faith, &c., to the 
high and mightie monarch, the Great Mogul, King of 
the Oriental] Indies, of Chandahar, of Chismer (Cash- 
mere), and Coruzan (Khorassan), &c., greeting,” &c. 

Sir Thomas landed in state at Surat in September, 
1615. Fie was accompanied by the President and 
merchants of the factory. And now observe the 
phraseology of 250 years ago. We would say he had 
also a guard of honour of 100 men from the fleet. 
They, however, have it that he had “ a Court of Guard 
of 100 shot ” (' musketeers ) ; and, again, instead of the 
ships dressed with their gay flags saluted him as he 
passed, they assert that “the ships in their best equi¬ 
page gave him their ordnance as he passed.” 

It was at Ajmere, in January 1616, that Sir 
Thomas was presented, in Open Durbar, to Jehangir, 
“ the Conqueror of the World.” He was allowed to 
salute as practised at the court of his own sovereign. 


348 


SEETABULDEE LECTURES. 


Jehangir, doubtless, even excused his taking off his 
boots, which was certainly not allowed to those who 
were present at the installation, in 1857, of the pre¬ 
sent Nizam of Hyderabad. The determined Sir 
Thomas had stipulated that he was “ not to perform 
any prostrations or go through any degrading or 
undignified ceremony.” This reminds me of the 
custom, that of taking off the shoes or boots before 
an audience with Majesty, observed with the King 
of Ava. At the end of the first Burmese war, 
the Embassy consisted of young Havelock (after¬ 
wards the great Sir Henry), Captain Lumsden, of the 
Bengal Horse Artillery, and others. The gallant 
trooper last mentioned, who wore jack-boots of fair 
dimensions, was of course loth to take them off*; 
perhaps as much so as the Imperial Guard of Na¬ 
poleon to be shorn of their splendour, when their 
long queues were ordered to be delivered over to the 
hands of the Paris barber. If I recollect right, he 
either did not or would not take off his boots. I for¬ 
get whether the Golden Foot allowed his being pre¬ 
sented with them on. The Burmese, I may mention, 
are of the Mongolian variety ; but let us return 
to Sir Thomas Roe. Sir Thomas appears to have 
managed Jehangir with consummate tact and 
ability ; and a more straightforward, enlightened 
representative of our countrymen, it would have 
been difficult to have found at that time. As man 
has often to have recourse to woman in cases of 
difficulty, so was he not above calling in the aid of 


MOGUL EMPIRE IN INDIA. 


349 


the beautiful, romantic, and talented “ Noormahal,” 
the Emperor’s wife, to gain the objects of his 
mission. It took nearly two years to obtain the full 
confirmation of the treaty, with other most important 
privileges, all of which aided materially the rise of the 
glorious and munificent old Company, which has now 
passed away with that Mogul empire which was then 
near the “ zenith of its prosperity and splendour.’’ 

In mentioning Roe, I have forgot to tell you any¬ 
thing about Coryate, his celebrated friend, whom he 
met at Ajmere on arrival. This indefatigable tra¬ 
veller, full of eccentricity, love of sight-seeing, and 
personal vanity, had excited the attention of Jehangir 
and his courtiers, who styled him the English Faquir. 
He was fond of notoriety, and having been eclipsed 
by his friend Sir Thomas, the great ambassador, he 
determined to bring himself to the notice of Jehangir 
by an address in Persian. The “ Lord Protector of 
the World,” was pleased with the erudite harangue, 
which he delivered with great emphasis, and pre¬ 
sented the author with one hundred rupees, to assist 
his projected travels ; “and,” says Coryate in a letter 
to his mother, “ never had I more need of money in 
my life than at that time, for in truth I had but twenty 
shillings sterling left in my purse.” His Asiatic 
travels were very extensive; and his knowledge of 
the Indian vernacular truly wonderful. A story is 
told of him that there was a woman, a laundress, 
belonging to the Lord Ambassador’s house, who had 
such freedom of speech that she would scold, brawl, 




350 


SEETABULPEE LECTUEES. 


and rail from sunrise to sunset. One day Coryate 
“ undertook her in her own language, and by eight of 
the clock in the morning so silenced her that she 
had not one word more to speak.” On a traveller 
mentioning to King James that he had met Coryate 
in Persia, the King remarked,—“ Is that fool living 
yet ? ” Sir Thomas Roe had no mean opinion of 
him ; but particularly offended his vain friend by, 
in a letter of introduction to the Consul at Aleppo, 
styling him “ a very honest, poor wretch,” which 
remark was afterwards expunged. Sir Thomas 
finally left the country in 1619, after labouring 
greatly to the advantage of British dominion in 
India, particularly as regards his transactions with 
the Great Mogul. He is the ablest, and, perhaps, 
the first and greatest genuine pioneer of British 
enterprise in the East. Let us put poor Coryate in 
the second place, and conclude this digressive notice 
with the epitaph written for him by a friend, who 
styled him “ a man of a very coveting eye, that could 
never he satisfied with seeing 

“ Here lies the wanderer of his age, 

Who living did rejoice, 

Not out of need, but choyce, 

To make his life a pilgrimage. 

“ He spent full many pretious daies, 

As if he had his being 
To waste his life in seeing! 

More thought to spend, to gain him praise. 

* * * * * * 

“ Many the places which he ey’d, 

And though he should have been 
In all parts yet unseen, 

His eye had not been satisfy’d. 


MOGUL EMPIRE IN INDIA. 


351 


“To fill it when he found no room, 

By the choyce things he saw 
In Europe and vast Asia, 

Fell blinded in this narrow tombe.” * 

Shah Jehan bears a good character, and was pos¬ 
sessed of great talents and accomplishments. He was 
famous for his splendid family ; the sons were brave, 
and the daughters were beautiful and accomplished. 
Aureng-Zebe, the fourth son, being of a studious cast, 
and a man of business, was entrusted with an impor¬ 
tant share in the government of the Mogul empire 
by his father, who little suspected his ambitious de¬ 
signs. He became jealous of the power of his elder 
brothers, which they obtained during the sickness of 
their father. He gradually extended his ambitious 
views, which displayed great talent combined with 
hypocrisy; till at length he defeated his father and 
brothers in battle, and gained the imperial power. 
Aureng-Zebe began to reign about 1658. He died at 
the age of ninety, in 1707. His character, by one 
writer, has been compared to that of Shakspeare’s 
Richard the Third. He had frequently his “ winter ” 
of discontent, and could make, or thought he could 
make, even villany respectable. He somewhat resem¬ 
bled Richard in duplicity and cunning—features quite 
inseparable from Mogul character. During his reign 
the whole imperial force marched into the Deccan, 
the final subjugation of which was the grand object of 

* For these particulars regarding “Roe and Coryate,” I am in¬ 
debted to an admirable article under that title in the 1 Calcutta 
Review,’ No. 56, June, 1857. 



352 


SEETABULDEE LECTURES. 


his ambition. But it was not till upwards of a quarter 
of a century after (1720), that two of the Mogul race, 
the Nizam in the Deccan, and Saadut in Oude, had 
established independent kingdoms—the former nomi¬ 
nally still existing. Next to Acbar, Aureng-Zebe is 
undoubtedly the most celebrated of the Mogul em¬ 
perors in India. The rise of the Mahratta power 
took place during the reign of Aureng-Zebe. Sevajee, 
founder of the dynasty, whose great-grandfather was 
a Zemindar near Poonah, founded that enterprising 
but treacherous family which, from a small village, 
made Poonah a great and flourishing capital. The 
Mahrattas not only subverted the tottering empire of 
Mogul empire in Hindustan; but we know that they 
disputed with no contemptible skill the rise and 
advance of British supremacy. And, in 1857, the 
adopted son of the Peishwah, the vile miscreant, 
Nana Sahib (Nana Rao), was murdering the British, 
men, women, and children, at Cawnpore, after having 
flattered them like dogs, and enjoyed their society 
and confidence ! 

With the death of Aureng-Zebe, the glory of the 
Mogul empire in India may be said to have departed. 
From this period, to the time when Lord Lake, in 
1803, with a victorious army entered the city of Delhi, 
—the ancient capital of the Pathan and Mogul em¬ 
pires,—India was mostly a scene of bloodshed and 
confusion. The British power was gaining its greatest 
height. Then it was the aged Mogul put himself 
under the protection of the British, and was compelled 


MOGUL EMPIEE IN INDIA. 


353 


to receive an annual salary. The name of the Great 
Mogul was all the vestige of imperial dignity left to 
the descendants of a race who once kept the Eastern 
world in terror. Like the incendiary’s work of terrible 
magnitude, illuminating the heavens with destructive 
splendour, till the flames spread devastation all around ; 
so was the Mogul empire till the death of Aureng-Zebe: 
other adventurers then sought supremacy in the East, 
and rushed forward to quench the dying flame, till, 
of the mighty conflagration, the ashes alone were left. 
But in the eventful year of 1857, it seemed that the 
words of the poet were to be realized with the Moguls, 

“ Even in their ashes live their wonted fires! ” 

The terrible details of the Bengal mutiny are yet 
fresh in the minds of all Indian residents, especially 
of those who were in the country while the awful 
events took place. Early in the above year, in the 
imperial city of Delhi—a city of more than one creed 
and more than one dynasty—in the palace of his an¬ 
cestors, there lived, on a munificent pension paid by 
the British Government, Bahadur Khan, the represen¬ 
tative of the great Mogul house; which once held 
all India under sovereign sway. The Brahman and 
the Moslem were earnestly turning their eyes towards 
him for the recovery of lost power. Prayers were 
offered up in the mosques for the restoration of the 
royal house of Delhi. We had had a century of glory. 
On the 23rd of June, 1857, # that glory was to cease 
for ever ! It was to be sought by others who thought 
* Battle of Plassey, 23rd of June, 1757. 

2 A 


354 


SEETABULDEE LECTURES. 


they had a greater right to it, but yet who, when they 
possessed it, could never keep it. The Mahomedan 
had lost his military, the Brahman his social sway ; 
and the desire to recover it was strong indeed. 

In the month of May, 1857, as you know, Delhi 
rose in insurrection against us. The house of Tam- 
merlane, it seemed, must either rise again, or fall for 
ever ! In this eventful year, too, during the month of 
June, the Mahomedans of Nagpore, “ in conjunction 
with the irregular cavalry, were plotting to murder the 
whole of the European residents at Seetabuldee 
and considering the small European force available— 
if a few European warrant officers of the Arsenal, and 
the European residents at the station can be called a 
force—the very ground we now stand upon was inse¬ 
cure. What strange events have since then taken 
place ! What a season of rebellion and anarchy we 
have passed through! And what have the chief actors in 
the rebellion gained by it ? Simply disgrace or death ! 
There is something truly lamentable in the result which 
has been produced from ignorance of our resources, of 
the real stability of our power, and of the invincible 
courage of the British nation. And by none was this 
ignorance more manifested than by the wretched Last 
of the Moguls, and his vile advisers. The once “mag¬ 
nificent inheritance of the House of Tamerlane ” has 
passed away like a tale that is told. Only last year 

(1859), the last of the Moguls left India to take up his 
abode as a banished prisoner in Burmah. This is, per- 

* Hislop. 


MOGUL EMPIRE IN INDIA. 


355 


haps, the greatest blow to Mogul pride which has 
occurred since its empire became the u scourge of 
mankind.” In a retrospect of 1859, we also find it 
noted that the complete suppression of the rebellion in 
India, and the failure of the rising in Borneo, have 
notably checked the aspiration of Mahomedans. Again, 
it would seem that France is arming for a general cru¬ 
sade against Islam ; and there is a manifest movement 
among the Mahomedans in Turkey, especially among 
those of the capital, “ in favour of Christianity.” We 
must all regret to have observed by the Overland Mail 
of the 28th of June (1860) the announcement of a great 
massacre of Christians in Syria—the land consecrated 
by so much that is great and noble—and that the 
Turks of Bosnia had commenced a crusade against 
them. Yet, notwithstanding all this opposition, al¬ 
though with so many millions of followers, is Islam 
slowly withering away. The Crescent must at no very 
distant period altogether disappear before the light of 
the Cross, in the same manner as all other heresies and 
mythological faiths shall surely disappear, before the 
power of that Great Religion “ which is destined to 
supplant them all!” To bring about such a great end, 
ought we not to be zealous workers in the cause of 
educational enlightenment and civilisation ? Ought we 
not to aid every scheme, however humble, for the im¬ 
provement of nations perishing for lack of know¬ 
ledge ? 


2 a 2 


356 


SEETABULDEE LECTURES. 


POSTSCRIPT. 

THE NEW SULTAN. 

Abdul-A ziz-Klian, Grand Seignior and Sultan of the Ottoman Em¬ 
pire, succeeded his brother, Abdul-Merljid-Klian, on the 26 th of June, 
Is- 61. Some of the common sense of the old Eastern Moguls, appears 
to distinguish this potentate, who began his career in the days of 
“peace retrenchment, and reform.” How long he may be able to 
hold his own in Europe, need not be speculated on. The day when 
everything Mahomedan shall be driven back to the East, whence it 
came, may not be far distant; and civilisation may demand such a 
change! However, I shall here give a few notes, from a letter from 
Constantinople published in 1861, which will show how the law of 
progress has even touched a Sultan! On one occasion, while examining 
the dockyard, he firmly declared that his intention was to increase 
the fleet. “ It shall be done under protection of your Majesty’s 
shadow!” was the answer, in Oriental style. “ Ho not talk of Ma¬ 
jesty and shadow,” said the Sultan, “ but take notice of one thing, 
which is, that I am determined to have cannons, ships, and sailors, 
soldiers and muskets! ” On another occasion, he spent not fewer 
than seven hours in inspecting the lodgings of the troops, the arms, 
clothing, &c. He even tasted the food prepared for the men, and said, 
“Is it always as bad as that?” giving orders at the same time that 
the rations should be improved. 

His Majesty, it is said, has always taken great pleasure in agricul¬ 
tural pursuits. He personally superintended a large farm, which, on 
becoming engaged in the affairs of the State, he presented to one of 
his nephews, with the following remark :—“ I give you this farm in 
order that you may cultivate it as I did, and that you may see how 
the poor man can earn his bread! ” Like Peter the Great, then, at 
present, the darling object of the new Sultan appears to be the im¬ 
provement of his marine. No doubt, like some other European sove¬ 
reigns, his wish is like that of the immortal Czar just named, who, 
when a French mediator remonstrated with him upon the exorbitancy 
of his demands, replied, “ I do not choose to see from my window the 
territories of my neighbour ! ” With crippled resources, howeVer, the 
new Sultan, it would seem, is desirous of restraining his ambition, and 
turning his attention to the internal improvement of his country, 


THE TURKS IN SYRIA. 


357 


which will secure him popularity until the end come J Population of 
Turkey in Europe, 16,400,000; revenue, 11,400,000/.; debt, 32,800,000/.; 
army, say, 150,000. 


I have heard it remarked, that it is the opinion of many of the 
Conservative party on the Continent—especially in Prussia—that, had 
Great Britain not gone to war with Russia, there would have been no 
massacre of the Christians in Syria! It is certain that many Turks 
stood aloof from saving the Christians in the most dastardly manner. 



358 


A POLITICAL SKETCH. 


NOTES ON RUSSIAN INVASION OF BRITISH INDIA. 

(From the Diary of a Commissary.) 

About a week after the departure of the 3rd M. Eu¬ 
ropeans,* I found myself ruminating in a palkee, fairly 
on the road to Nagpore. Thoughts of the importance 
and responsibility attached to the appointment I was 
about to take up (Commissary of Ordnance), how I 
could best do my work for a most liberal Government 
—thoughts on a hundred other subjects ; for one, had 
Russian intrigue with Persia anything to do with the 
mutiny of the deadly year now at its close ?—naturally 
started to my mind. With regard to the appointment, 
I determined to do my best. Keep a stout heart, and 
I could do no more. How ambition does torture a 
man ! And how few men propose to themselves a 
fame worthy of their ambition ? To be a great po¬ 
litical leader or a great commander, what ennobling 
thoughts ! On this came the solemn remarks of Sir 
Henry Lawrence, on his death-bed, when, pointing out 
the worthlessness of all human distinction, he referred 
to his own success in life, and asked what was it worth 


* December, 1857. 



RUSSIA AND INDIA. 


359 


then ?—Caesar stabbed in the Senate-house ; Fiescho* 
falling from the plank; Napoleon dying a banished 
exile at St. Helena (near which island the good ship 
‘Windsor Castle’ is approaching—March, 1861— 
while I am transcribing my diary) ; Sir Alexander 
Burnes at Cabul. Such are a few of the most tragic 
ends of ambition. But what had I to do with think¬ 
ing of such matters ? I was simply an Ordnance 
officer, with very little chance of ever becoming a 
Burnes, a Lawrence, or a Neill! 

The palanquin stopping beside a picturesque tank, 
by the side of which, not “ an aged banian grew,” 
but other Indian trees, with rich foliage ; after refresh¬ 
ing ablutions, and a quiet breakfast, an old note-book 
came to the front, in which I found written the fol¬ 
lowing extract from Addison :—“ Let the ambitious 
man consider, that if he employs his abilities to the 
best advantage, the time will come when the Supreme 
Governor of the world, the great Judge of mankind, 
who sees every degree of perfection in others, and 
possesses all possible perfection in himself, shall pro¬ 
claim his worth before men and angels.” 

The question of Russian invasion of British India 
will ever give room for thought, at least until some 
mighty change has taken place; and it is the opinion 
of many that upon England’s policy in Central Asia 

* “ The ambitious man, that in a perilous hour 
Fell from the plank.”— Rogers. 

See Robertson’s ‘ History of Charles the Fifth.’ A translation of 

Fiescho_an admirable study of an ambitious character was made 

many years ago by my late brother, Alexander Laurie, Esq. 




360 


A POLITICAL SKETCH. 


depend the destinies of the world. Twelve years ago I 
published some ‘ Political Speculations,’ chiefly on the 
increasing power of Russia, which were well received. 
A very few years after, the Russian war took place. 
The remark had been put forth that Russia and the 
Great Powers would be the first cause of war; and 
it was so. According to some writers, the “ coming 
struggle ” is yet on the list. The Autocrat of Russia, 
when he shall have put all the nations of Continental 
Europe under his feet, is to turn his eyes eastward 
and long for Britain’s empire in the East. He is the 
head of that nation which is to come to the East from 
his place out of the north parts. He is to be chiefly 
opposed by the merchants of Tarshish, with “ all the 
young lions thereof,” meaning the Honourable East 
India Company and their servants, for the inroad of 
the Autocrat having brought about the loss of Egypt 
has caused-great fear in their minds.— 

(Now “the young lions” have given way to the 
lion and unicorn.)— 

The temporary conqueror comes, but “ tidings out 
of the east and out of the north have troubled him.” 
Still he lays siege to Jerusalem, and plants “ the 
tabernacle of his place between the seas in the 
glorious holy mountain.” Brother Jonathan sends 
us assistance from the shores of Columbia to aid in 
the common struggle. From across the Pacific comes 
a fleet of gallant vessels, “ with the stars and stripes 
gleaming on every mast.”—(After what we have 
now seen of Jonathan (’62), I trust we may do with- 


RUSSIA AND INDIA. 


361 


out his assistance.)—The Anglo-Saxon race having 
met on the sacred soil of Palestine, are ready to 
fight beside the dark-eyed sons of Abraham, for to 
them the dawn of Zion’s glory has come at last. 
The millions from Russia, aided by troops from op¬ 
pressed and wretched Continental Europe, are on the 
other side. An awfully fierce battle ensues; the 
glorious ends are gained; for the Autocrat at Arma¬ 
geddon has been defeated, and is fallen, “ fallen from 
his high estate !” There is something very grand and 
impressive about all this. It does seem highly pro¬ 
bable that eventually all the glory of the world will be 
(it must be through the power of England) concentred 
in the East, will return to the quarter whence it 
came, and, to bring about this glorious consumma¬ 
tion, India must for ever remain ours, must be kept 
and defended at all hazards. Egypt, too, should be 
entirely ours, for there are other autocrats besides 
Russia in the world ! Persia has been humiliated, and 
the cessation of hostilities with that country enabled 
the Commander-in-Chief to send back the European 
troops to India, with the chivalrous Outram and the 
stern Havelock to suppress the mutiny. Persia will 
not attack us in India single-handed; but it is said 
that “ the present European complications will induce 
Russia to try to extend her authority over Central 
Asia, and, indeed, an expedition for ‘ purely scientific 
purposes ’ has already reached the frontiers of Afghan¬ 
istan.” General Outram, in his despatches and letters, 
frequently alludes to Russian interference. 


362 


A POLITICAL SKETCH. 


This interference was particularly manifested up¬ 
wards of a quarter of a century ago, when the Persian 
Court openly avowed its claim not only upon Herat— 
that little independent state which has been so long 
the bone of contention* in Central Asia—but upon 
Candahar and Cabul. Urged on by the Russians, and 
entering into an alliance with the chiefs of Candahar, 
what was to prevent the Shah of Persia following the 
steps of Nadir to Delhi? Then, after Russian diplomacy, 
combined (as it ever is) with the most wily duplicity, 
set-off by a wonderful knowlege of languages; British 
remonstrance to the Russian cabinet; uncertainty as 
to the views of Dost Mahomed at Cabul; the mission 
of Captain Burnes to negotiate the free commerce of 
the Indus, whither he was sent by Lord Auckland ; 
and Lord Palmerston’s remonstrance to the Russian 
Government, in 1838, when Count Nesselrode reite¬ 
rated his pacific professions, “ disclaiming any designs 
upon India, as impracticable and inconsistent with 
sound and rational policyafter all these varieties in 
the political art, came the Afghan war with which 
every reader of Indian history is so well acquainted. 
And now to keep closely and briefly to the question of 
Russian invasion of British India. For the sake of 
those who may have any fear for her future interests, 
and who are not exactly aware of how the thing might 
be effected, it may be stated that the first Napoleon 
did talk over the Emperor Paul to make an overland 

* It was the Persian assault on Herat which caused the recent 
Persian war. 



RUSSIA AND INDIA. 


363 


invasion. The French and Russian troops were to 
force their way through the kingdom of Persia. Thirty- 
five thousand French were to descend the Danube into 
the Black Sea; and then, being wafted across that sea 
and the sea of Azoph, were to march by land to the 
banks of the Volga. Here they were again to be em¬ 
barked, and descend the river to Astracan, and from 
thence were to cross the Caspian Sea to Astrahad, 
where they were to be joined by a Russian army equal 
in force to their own. 

It was thought that, marching through Persia 
by Herat, Ferah, and Candahar, the Russo-Gallic 
army might reach the Indus in forty-five days from 
Astrabad ! # Here was a gigantic project, which, had 
not the two greatest European powers, England and 
France, resolved to aim a blow at the ambition and 
power of Russia, for anything we know, might have 
been attempted even in the present century. The 
arguments against the success of such a project are 
very strong—so strong, in fact (always supposing the 
Indian army to be kept up to the proper strength), 
that they ought to banish every idea of Russian in¬ 
vasion, by the above route, for ever from the public 
mind. But even allowing the want of success, the 
fact of a vigorous and prolonged attempt at invasion 
would paralyze India, and shake it nearly as much as 
another mutiny. But Russia must first conquer and 
annex Persia, in addition to Bucharia. She must ad¬ 
vance her victorious banners into the mountainous 
* See Sir Walter Scott’s ‘ Life of Napoleon.’ 


364 


A POLITICAL SKETCH. 


defiles of Afghanistan : when this her extended em¬ 
pire has remained for several years, then, but not till 
then, we may be sure the star of Albion has begun to 
decline, and we may “ tremble at the Russian name, 
and despair for British India.” 

I recollect reading some years ago the remarks of 
scientific men of distinction on Central Asia, India, and 
the designs of Russia on those parts of the world. One 
of them thought that a Russian invasion of India was 
perfectly feasible. The great geologist and geographer, 
Sir R. I. Murchison, considered the idea as Quixotic. 
It was a physical impossibility. How could an army, 
such as would be required for the purpose, be exposed 
to the chance of a total want of provisions ? Colonel 
Sykes condemned it as visionary and absurd. u If Lord 
Keane,” said the gallant and learned Colonel, “ in the 
invasion of Afghanistan, backed by all the resources of 
India, in his comparatively short march from the Indus 
to Ghiznee, was compelled to put his troops upon half 
rations, and leave his battering train behind, owing to 
the loss of cattle and other causes, and would have 
been compelled to retire (so it is said) had he not 
carried Ghiznee by a coup de main; then, by analogy, 
it is irrational to suppose a Russian army of 100,000 
men could ever transport its ordnance and commissariat 
departments for a march of many months through 
sterile regions to India.” 

This is the most practical view of the matter which 
can possibly be taken. But, resigning the Quixotic 
attempt by the route already described to temporary 


RUSSIA AND INDIA. 


365 


oblivion, it is difficult to understand how a remote 
possibility of the Russians coming down upon us by 
way of Thibet and northern Burmah has not entered 
the minds of our geographers in Europe. But at pre¬ 
sent,* so far as man can judge, an invasion by either 
route is extremely improbable; so let us hope, in the 
meantime, that Russia may go on learning sense in 
Europe, and Persia continue to understand her position 
in Asia ; that the balance of power may be preserved 
in the West; that peace may soon universally reign 
among mankind; and that our Indian empire, rising 
from difficulties like a giant with renewed strength, 
may flourish as of yore, proving itself to be, what it 
really is, the most wonderful and the brightest jewel 
in the British crown ! 


* March, 1861. 






















. 






































APPENDIX. 






































































APPENDIX. 


I. 

LAKES OF SWEDEN 

There are many lakes in Sweden ; but the Wenner, the 
Wetter, and the Malar, are the largest and most important. 
The rivers Gotha and Motala are, respectively, the outlets of 
the former two lakes. The Wenner is about 100 miles long, 
by nearly 60 broad, in the widest part; it contains many 
islands and receives numerous rivers. Its area in square 
miles is not less than 2135. Compare this with the area of 
the Dead Sea, in Palestine, 340; the Lake of Geneva, in 
Switzerland, 240; Como, in Italy, 54; Loch Lomond, in 
Scotland, 81; and we get some idea of the vast extent of 
Lake Wenner. The Wetter is nearly the same length,fbut 
its breadth is very unequal, and not exceeding from 6 to 
26 miles. It is very deep, contains a few islands, and receives 
many small streams. The area of the Wetter, in square miles, 
is 840, more than eight times as large as Loch Neagh, the largest 
lake in Ireland, and about 100 times larger than the beautiful 
Lake of Windermere, in England ! The storms which agitate 
these Swedish lakes, or small seas, are sometimes very con¬ 
siderable, demanding the utmost care in navigation. The 
Malar is about 70 miles long by 30 broad in some parts, 

2 B 



370 


APPENDIX. 


but the breadth greatly varies. At Stockholm it communi¬ 
cates with the Baltic by two rapid currents. It contains a 
number of small islands, of which some are three or four miles 
in extent, and the area of this lake, in square miles, is about 
760. The Wenner, above mentioned, I may also state, is the 
largest lake in Europe, next to Ladoga, in Russia, which is 
situated between the Lake Onega and the Gulf of Finland, 
and is 130 miles long, by 70 broad, with an area of upwards of 
6000 square miles. Lake Ladoga is celebrated for its proximity 
to St. Petersburgh. 


II. 

SUCCESSION TO THE THEONE OF SWEDEN. 

A letter from Stockholm, dated the 12th December (’61), 
says :—“ The King will, it is said, at the next Diet, have a bill 
presented, in virtue of which the succession to the throne may be¬ 
long, to the female line when the deceased King has no direct 
male heir or brother fit to succeed him, as took place with Queen 
Christina, daughter of King Gustavus Adolphus. If such a bill 
is voted, the Princess Louisa, only child of King Charles XV., 
will succeed her father. This modification of the legislation, 
relative to the succession to the throne, has for its object to 
realize the Scandinavian union, by means of a marriage 
between the eldest son of the Prince of Denmark and the 
Princess Louisa of Sweden. In that eventuality, the Duke 
of Ostgothland, brother of King Charles XV., who is the 
zealous pai tisan of the Scandinavian union, will renounce 
the succession to the throne of Sweden for himself and hjs 
heirs. The Princess Louisa is now twelve years of age. 



APPENDIX. 


371 


III. 

A RUSSIAN WIFE SHOW. 

A correspondent, writing from St. Petersburgh, gives the 
following as one of “ the peculiarities of Northern life.” The 
scene is laid in the “ Summer Garden,” one of the most pleasant 
places of popular resort in that city, on Whit-Sunday after¬ 
noon—a festival “ observed with scrupulous care,” when “ it 
is the custom to decorate the dwellings, boats, rafts, carriages, 
and church-doors, with branches of linden,” and when in the 
old times the “ Wife Show ” was the great feature of the 
occasion:—“ The wife show is now the last lingering relic 
of what was once a popular national custom. Here the sons 
and daughters of tradesmen w r ere wont to assemble to select 
their partners for life. The girls would come decked out in 
all the ornaments the family could raise, and sometimes carry¬ 
ing in their hands a bunch of silver teaspoons, or playing 
gracefully with a huge silver ladle as if it were a fan; while 
the young men, also appearing to the best advantage, would 
stroll by them, and on seeing any young lady who particularly 
struck their fancy, would politely inquire about her dower from 
her parents, who invariably accompanied the blushing damsels. 
The custom so far exists in the present day that, had I been 
matrimonially disposed, I might have selected a wife without 
even the trouble of advertising, to say nothing of saving the 
time which the more conventional customs of my native land 
deem requisite for a courtship. Here comes a group attract¬ 
ing more than ordinary attention. They are candidates for 
p-atrimony—two young sisters, apparently about eighteen years 
age. They are rather pretty, and quite elegantly dressed 

2 B 2 


V/* 


372 


APPENDIX. 


in light colours, and wearing the little jaunty hats and feathers. 
Behind them come their parents and an old woman, plainly 
attired, hut after all one of the most important members of the 
family. If a young man is taken with the appearance of the 
candidates, he will give the old lady’s shawl a gentle pull, and 
they will together step on one side, and avoid the crowd by 
turning into one of the side walks. A conversation something 
like the following will ensue, it being, of course, understood 
by the parties that the young bachelor is wife-hunting:—Old 
Woman: ‘Well, sir; what is your name?’—Young Man: 
‘ Ivan Petrovitch, little mother.’—O. W.: ‘ Where do you 
live?’— Y. M. : ‘In Gargarrovitch Street, No. 6.’—O. W. : 
‘ t You are well off?’—Y. M. : ‘Yes; I get so many rubles 
from my little store in Grostinnor Diver, and have so much 
laid up. What’s the name of the young lady—the one at the 
right, little mother?’—O. W. : ‘You’re not the first that has 
asked me that, for a finer young woman has not been on the 
Summer Garden for many a summer. Her name is Ekata- 
rina, and her dower is so many rubles.’ After some further 
cross-questioning the parties separate. In the evening the old 
woman states to the parents the various propositions she has 
received, and to the one who has the largest income a note is 
sent. If all his statements are found correct the thing is con¬ 
sidered settled, and Ekatarina is married to Ivan with little 
more ado. She never thinks of objecting, and neither bride 
nor bridegroom have any idea of wasting time in courting.”— 
j From ‘London Journal .’ 


After all, in our enlightened England, with so many charm¬ 
ing young ladies, and manoeuvring mothers, is not the “ note ” 
too frequently sent, or the “ answer ” given, to the one who has 
the largest income ? 




APPENDIX. 


373 


IV. 

\ 

EUROPEAN ARMIES AND NAVIES. 

The following, according to the ‘ Almanach de Gotha,’ was 
the state of the disposable land and sea forces of the great 
powers of Europe in 1861:— 

France.— Army, on war footing, 767,770 men, 130,000 
horses. Navy, 600 vessels afloat, building, and under transfor¬ 
mation, carrying together 13,353 guns. Out of that number 
there are 373 steamers, of which 56 are iron-cased. The crews 
of the fleet, who, on a peace footing, amount to 38,375 men, may 
in case of war be increased to 60,000. The seamen forming 
part of the maritime inscription are 170,000 in number. The 
effective strength of the marines is 22,400 men in peace, and 
26,879 in war. Custom-house officers or coast-guard, 25,500 
men. (Army on peace footing, 414,868 men, 72,850 horses.) 

Great Britain. —Army, 212,773 men, 21,904 horses. 
Navy, 893 vessels, carrying 16,411 guns. The crews 
number 78,200 men, of whom 18,000 are marines and 
8550 coastguard men. 

Russia. —Army, 577,859 men, regular troops, and 136 
regiments of cavalry, 31 battalions, and 31 batteries of irre¬ 
gulars. Navy, 313 vessels, of which 242 are steamers, carrying 
together, 3851 guns. The Russian Government has also 474 
vessels acting as guardships at different places and for trans¬ 
ports. 

Austria.— Army, 587,695 men. Navy, 53 steamers and 
7 9 sailing vessels, carrying together 895 guns. 

Prussia. —Army, peace footing, 212,649 men ; war footing, 
622,366 men. Navy, 34 vessels, of which 26 are steamers. 


374 


APPENDIX. 


Italy. —Official effective strength of the army on the 10th 
June, 1861, 68 regiments of infantry, 26 battalions of bersag- 
lieri, 17 regiments of cavalry, 9 of artillery, 2 of engineers, and 
3 waggon train. Navy, 106 vessels, carrying 1036 guns. [The 
numbers of effective men in the army and navy, not being under¬ 
stood, are omitted.] 


In September, 1861, Captain Petrie, of Her Majesty's 
14th Regiment (employed on the Topographical Staff) deli¬ 
vered a lecture in Dublin on “ The Armed Forces of Europe.” 
The subject being one so full of interest, I give his valuable 
statistical information, although it is not so recent as the above. 
Changes are always taking place. While I am writing 
(January, 1862), the French army is reduced by 40 or 50,000 
men. It is even more important to look at an armed force, not 
as it is, but as it might be when the blast of war is heard ! 

Austria.— The war establishment of the Austrian army, 
according to the organisation that came into force in April, 
1860, is as follows :—309 battalions of infantry, 437,964 men ; 
41 regiments of cavalry, 60,110 men; 136 batteries of artillery, 
27,176 men, 1088 guns ; 2 regiments of engineers, 7460 men ; 
6 regiments of pioneers, 6858; 24 squadrons train, 18,204 ; 
10 companies sanitary corps, 2550; staff corps, corps of ad¬ 
jutants, and general staff, 3889, total regular army, 564,211. 
Volunteer corps organized in 1859 ; 30,000 ; depots and re¬ 
serves of all arms, 103,751 ; gendarmerie, police, veterans, &c., 
40,382. Grand total of forces, 738,344 men, 1088 guns. 

Prussia. —Infantry, Guard, 9 regiments, 28,674 men; 
Line, 72 regiments, 229,392; jager, 10 battalions, 10,480; 
total, 268,546. Cavalry, 48 regiments, 36,768 ; field jager 
and staff orderlies, 902; total, 37,670. Artillery, 9 regi¬ 
ments, 41,292 men, 1228 guns; pioneers, train, &c., 11,971 
men; total field troops, 359,479. Depots and Ersatz troops, 
98,487 men, 216 guns; Landwehr and garrison troops, &c., 



APPENDIX. 


375 


261,126 men. Grand total of forces, 719,092 men, 1444 
guns. 

Russia. —The army of Russia is so complicated in its 
organization that there would be considerable difficulty in 
making an exact analysis of it; but the numbers have been as¬ 
certained, with sufficient accuracy, to be on the present reduced 
establishment about 850,000 men. Of these the active army 
numbers 520,523 men, and 1160 guns ; the rest are composed 
of disciplined Cossacks and of irregular troops. 

France. —The infantry consists of 103 regiments of the 
line, each having 3 active battalions and 1 depot battalion; 
20 battalions of chasseurs, 3 regiments of Zouaves, 2 regi¬ 
ments of foreign infantry, 2 battalions of African Light Infantry, 
3 regiments of Turcos or Tirailleurs Algeriens. The artillery 
includes 4 regiments of horse artillery, with 192 guns ; 10 
regiments of mounted artillery, with 600 guns; 10 batteries 
of foot artillery, with 60 guns; 1 regiment of pontooneers, 
6 squadron train, giving a total of 38,767 men, 37,954 horses, 
852 guns. This is in addition to 15,000 men, garrison artil¬ 
lery, and the depots, artificers, &c. The total number of 
guns that can be brought into the field, including the Imperial 
Guard, is 942, all of which are of brass and rifled. The Im¬ 
perial Guard forms a complete corps d’armee in itself. It is 
composed as follows: —1 regiment of gendarmerie, 7 regi¬ 
ments of grenadiers and voltigeurs, 1 regiment of chasseurs, 
1 squadron of gendarmerie-a-cheval, 6 regiments of cavalry, 
15 batteries of artillery, 2 companies of pontooneers, 2 com¬ 
panies of engineers, 4 companies of train. Its total establish¬ 
ment is 38,060 men, 13,447 horses, and 90 guns. The official 
returns on the 1st of January, 1860, gave the total number of 
available men as follows:—Troops in France, o98,559; in 
Algeria, 83,782; in North Italy, 55,281; in Rome, 7904; 
in China, 5468 Total under arms, 550,994; men on conge, 
64,471 ; reserve, 11,017. Grand total, 626,482. 


376 


APPENDIX. 


Great Britain. —Regular troops of all arms, 218,971 
men, 30,072 horses, 366 guns ; British local and colonial troops, 
18,249 men, 248 guns; foreign and coloured troops, chiefly in 
India, 218,043 men, 58 guns ; military police in India, 79,264 
men. Grand total, 534,527 men, 30,072 horses, 672 guns. 
Of these there are in the United Kingdom :—Infantry, Guards, 
7 battalions, 6297 men ; line, 35 battalions, 33,105 men; total, 
39,402. Cavalry, Life and Horse Guards, 3 regiments; dra¬ 
goons, &c., 16 regiments, 10,560 men; total 11,871 men. 
Artillery, Horse, 6 batteries, 1200 men, 36 guns; field, 23 
batteries, 5060 men, 138 guns; garrison, 39 batteries, 4680 
men; total, 10,940 men, 174 guns. Engineers, 2316; mili¬ 
tary train, 1830; hospital corps, 609 ; commissariat staff corps, 
300. Grand total of active forces, 67,268 men, 174 guns. 
Besides, there are the depot establishments:—Infantry, Line, 
126 depots, 24,770; cavalry, 9 depots, 396; artillery, 2975; 
total depots, 28,141 men. Reserves available for the defence 
of the kingdom in case of war:—Pensioners, 14,761 ; militia, 
45,000; yeomanry, 16,080; Irish constabulary, 12,392 ; volun¬ 
teers, 140,000; total, 228,240 men. 


V. 

THE GEBMAN-DANISH QUESTION. 

The following remarks, written about the end of November, 
1861, as a letter to a public journal*—to which reference has 
been made in these pages—although rather awfr-Danish in 
spirit, will assist the reader in forming an idea of both sides of 
the question It would be sad, indeed, if diplomatic “ commu¬ 
nications ” between Copenhagen and Berlin, after the passing 

* “ Germany and the Baltic (From our own Correspondent),” in 
‘ Caledonian Mercury.’ 



APPENDIX. 


377 


awa y> for the present, of an American, should lead to “ a 
general European war ! ” 

The Danish monarchy consists of what are called the 
Danish Islands and the Peninsula of Jutland, which together 
form the “ Kingdom of Denmark but with these the Duchies 
of Schleswig, of Holstein, and of Lauenburgare united, to make 
what is considered to be “ the Monarchy.” Of the various 
portions of this monarchy, the Duchies of Holstein and Lauen- 
burg alone are included in the German Confederation, though 
it is maintained that Schleswig also was originally a German 
province, until it was conquered by the Danes in the ninth 
century. After that it was governed by Danish Dukes as a 
Danish possession, but with its own independent laws, until the 
year 1326, when it became vested as an hereditary fief in the 
Courts of Holstein of that day, though it was expressly stipu¬ 
lated in the charter for that purpose, “ that the Duchy of 
Schleswig should never again be united with Denmark in such 
a way that one ruler should at the same time reign over both 
countries.” This arrangement, it should be observed, was 
faithfully adhered to until the extinction of the Schleswig- 
Holstein dynasty in 1459, when the “Estates” of both 
Duchies made choice of King Christian I. of Denmark to be 
their duke, on the condition, however, that he should ratify 
and confirm all their privileges, which they took care specially 
to enumerate in the Act which recorded his election. 

To these terms the King gave his assent, not only for him¬ 
self, but for his “ heirs and successors,” who were to be bound 
by oath to conform to them ; and every King of Denmark from 
that time has taken the requisite oath, with the exception of 
Frederick VII., the present King, who, nevertheless, on his 
accession in 1848, recognized the union of Schleswig and 
Holstein, though, in those revolutionary days, his Majesty 
was compelled by the mob of Copenhagen to grant his assent 
to the proposal which was submitted to him by his Ministers, 


378 


APPENDIX. 


“ that the union of Schleswig and Holstein should be declared 
null and void, and that Schleswig should in future be a Danish 
province,” though his Majesty was at the same bound to admit 
“ that he could no longer be held responsible for the acts of his 
Government.” 

These illegal proceedings of the Danish Ministry roused, 
as might be expected, the people of both Duchies, who speedily 
rose in open revolt, not indeed against the King, whom it was 
still their wish to retain as their sovereign, but against his 
Government and against the Danish people, who had displayed 
such enmity against them. In this step they were, in the first 
instance, encouraged by the German Diet, which had the effect, 
perhaps, of inducing the people of Schleswig-Holstein to go 
further than they might otherwise have done; but it was not 
long before it was discovered that all Germany was not hearty 
in the cause, for Austria never marched a single soldier to 
their assistance before the latter end of 1850, and her object 
then was rather to compel the Schleswig-Holsteiners to abandon 
the war than to help them in carrying it on. Prussia was at 
one time then, as she is again now, believed to be enthusiastic 
in the cause; but after what are now thought to have been 
little else than sham fights, she managed to slip out of the war, 
first by an armistice, and then by a separate peace, to which all 
the States of Germany assented ; and subsequently the resusci¬ 
tated Diet at Frankfort so far changed their original tactics, 
that in November, 1850, they threatened the Schleswig-Holstein 
people with measures of “ execution” against them as refractory 
confederates, unless they at once returned to their allegiance 
to the King of Denmark. 


APPENDIX. 


379 


CONCLUDING REMARKS. 

I shall here give a few more historical and political notes 
on Holstein and Schleswig, or the House of Schleswig-Holstein- 
Oldenburgh, which originated in Christian the First. 

We carry the controversy back to the days of Charles the 
Twelfth of Sweden. The eldest sister of Charles was married 
to the Duke of Holstein. Oppressed by the King of Denmark, 
this prince fled to Stockholm and asked for assistance. Such 
oppression appears to have originated from the brotherly wish 
of Christian the Third to bestow a share of sovereign power 
on his brother Adolphus. And hence he divided with him the 
Duchies of Holstein-Gottorp and Schleswig, effecting what 
has been called “ a whimsical kind of agreement,” which was 
that the descendants of Adolphus should ever after govern 
Holstein in conjunction with the Danish kings; that these two 
Duchies should belong to both in common, “ and that the King 
of Denmark should be able to do nothing in Holstein without 
the Duke, nor the Duke without the King I” Of course such 
an agreement became a source of perpetual dispute—“ the 
Kings always endeavouring to oppress the Dukes, and the 
Dukes to render themselves independent of the Kings.” The 
young King of Denmark, Frederick the Fourth, then, long 
after such a state of things had been established, was one of 
the three powerful princes who conspired to ruin Charles the 
Twelfth. He prepared to attack the Swedish monarch on the 
side of Holstein and Schleswig. Augustus, Elector of Saxony, 
at the same time, prepared to attack Charles on the side of 
Poland, with a view to recover Livonia and Esthonia from 
Sweden ; and Peter the Great leagued himself with these allies. 
One of the last remarkable events of the great Czar’s life was 
the marriage of his daughter Anne (subsequently herself 


380 


APPENDIX. 


Czarina of Russia), to the Duke of Holstein. Thus is this 
Duchy connected with the great names in the history of Northern 
Europe. 

The King of Denmark being the present Duke of Holstein 
has given the question a different turn at the present day. It 
is no longer the Duke but the Duchy that gives trouble. And 
to relinquish all constitutional connection with Holstein would, 
doubtless, in some measure, bring peace in many quarters. 
Now we have the estates of Holstein, backed by the Germanic 
Confederation, actually hostile to Holstein’s own sovereign and 
Duke, the King of Denmark. What next? may well be 
inquired by every true lover of national order and justice. But 
the King wisely seems determined that the freedom and inde¬ 
pendence of Denmark and Schleswig shall be established, whe¬ 
ther the legislative connection (which seems to exist chiefly in 
words) with Holstein exist or not. A recent anti-Danish autho¬ 
rity asserts that “ the relation in which the Duchies of Schleswig 
and Holstein de jure stand to Denmark is the same as that in 
which Hanover stood to England when princes of the House of 
Hanover sat on the English throne.” 

Alluding to the case of Denmark and the Duchies, he says 
that “ the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Oldenburg has heredi¬ 
tary claims in the male branch, upon Schleswig and Holstein ; 
but only one branch of that House has hereditary claims to the 
Kingdom of Denmark in male and female succession. When 
the male line in this branch becomes extinct, the Danish throne 
passes de jure to the female line, while the Duchies of Schleswig 
and Holstein pass to the male line of the House of Schleswig- 
Holstein-Oldenburg.” The incorporation of Schleswig with 
Denmark, also of Holstein, by severing it from the German 
Confirmation, with a view to advancing the frontiers of Denmark 
to the Elbe, is said to be the policy of the Danish statesmen— 
and no very had one, after all! Let Prussia try the eastern 
frontier at the expense of Russia ! 


APPENDIX. 


381 


WHO INVENTED THE STEAM-BOAT? 

In the course of my work this question is answered by giving 
the credit of the invention to Miller of Dalswinton. In 
1787 the ‘ Bantling was ready, the herald of those giants of 
steam locomotion which so elicit our admiration and wonder 
at the present day. I strictly adhere to what has been advanced 
with regard to the inventor ; but, to my astonishment, while 
these pages were going through the press, a notice of a little 
work came under my observation, in which the existence of the 
“ first steam-boat ever constructed,” is attributed to the “ in¬ 
vention of William Symington, civil engineer, Falkirk,” “ the 
father of steam-locomotion by sea and land.” His first patent, 
it is said, was taken out in 1784. -- I am, as yet, only aware 
that, about 1802-3, a patent for a mode of propulsion by 
steam (it does not say of a boat) was taken out in Scotland, 
which in no way interferes with the credit due to the inventor 
of the steam-boat. The professional man of science, above 
named, doubtless, had his own inventions ; but, as to the first 
steam-boat, I have every reason to believe, from all I have 
heard and read on the subject, that the man who struck out the 
idea —to which James Taylor, and Fulton, the American, also 
laid claim—was the country gentleman of universal knowledge, 
the ingenious and able mechanic, Patrick Miller. I should 
have said, struck out the idea in Great Britain (afterwards acted 
upon in America); for, after all, perhaps there is nothing new 
under the sun. Gunpowder in China and ordnance in India, 
thousands of years ago ! The Romans, if I recollect right, had 
a paddle-wheel boat—the two paddles moved by handles through 
the sides. The invention of the steam-engine was effected 
step by step. The railway locomotive indisputably belongs to 


APPENDIX. 


J 

382 

Stephenson; but when even his originality of invention, like 
that of the great Watt, has been called in question, we may 
expect opposition to the fair fame of the inventor of the steam¬ 
boat. 


INDUSTRIAL LIBERTY. 

The year 1862 will be one of the most remarkable in the 
history of Industrial liberty, which is making most decided pro¬ 
gress in Europe. I read that, in this year, it will be established 
throughout the Danish territory. The great National Ex¬ 
hibition of the year, in London, will, doubtless, bring many 
a Northerner to our metropolis, who will return gratified to 
his colder and less favoured region, eager to compete with 
us in the arts and sciences. With regard to trade in Denmark, 
measures are now in progress for the creation of a fund to aid 
young workmen who may be unable to commence business 
“ for want of a little capital.” 

The stolid Dane is resolved on enterprise in trade—the 
grand key to a nation’s prosperity; and, while the Radicals 
of the North of Germany are busy thinking over a German 
Parliament,—how to get rid of all their separate petty rulers, 
and how to “ get Schleswig-Holstein rent ” from Denmark,— 
the sturdy sons of Scandinavia, while resolved to defend their 
own, seem bent on success in a far more splendid field than the 
political arena! 

W. F. B. L. 


LONDON: W. CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. 



/ 

















,5 b O x 


^0 


x v 5 * , 

*f> - ' jar'-- ^ y r- 

: % V - 


^ °x. 


aV </> 

I* ** ^ 


» «V 




0 * K 


T 

•f ->^ v 

- -*U v * 


v O V 

* # c s *0' w 

^ S ^ .Vll, -^> 

o° * v _^e. 


** * ^ v “ ° « ''o o' .' »*SK> - v ' 

x 0 ^. £ f+ * 

^o° °o,-r^AV' 'V^To’”^ 0 v' 

A* «■'*»' ^ VS'A^* > ^ ,'*», % 

'•'■•* ^ ■«• * .&. A* 4W/- ^ 

- ^ A\ /A o 

•X T> aa cV\\ y,- c -vJ//h 

' z 


■%. ,i> x ' <s 

■t v «^ 

x 00 ^ 


cS 


0/ 


/- 


V> 

*<• \V * 



c. * • ’ ’ ”v v , jv* *. o f \' **•'• V ' v s. 

■^.a'- *.A%Ao \ & ; 

2 ^ *.f* 

^ v Ats a 





^ A J . 
✓ 


0 N c 


<V> ^ © 

, „V - a 

. <3a ^ ts e> ~i 

<”. y 0 v K * A 

) ' v ^ V , * -y ^ „ C 

* ^ : ' K/; '- * Kp t ^ 

^: A v 

X°<A 

*'-O 

°<t+ *m 

v | Cl ^ x 

% A - 

'<* v <c 





O _^. ;v 

X s v V 

X y ,A 0 

V*, 

a\ X c 0 ^ 0 ^ ^ 7 11 4 

^ ° 

o x 0 C? ( . ^ 


/ G> V*’ 

9 v 

•v, r v, .*• #T 

v ® '^f, V A » — 

i ' 'V -• I i 


-V 5 ^ 3 

\ k . r - 


Mr ' * 

4^: ^° ^ " 

2^ ..0 r> 



N c « ^ ^ ' " o^ 1 8 >v ^ 

' ' . //-sS»' ^ 

o * <Zi * L'W ■> 

^8 , A ^ ^ X " : , * , , * 'i N ° " A 

v ^ > 

* * *> / 

: v 









































a* *r -i 

o ° l t' / \\T *• 

s ^ <<y <* ^ o« x ■* A 

' Q-J ,UI, 'P v4> c "“'l/o. , 

^ ; <£%ja '. ’c o' 

^Oo,, l ^ <^ ' 7 & * 

<a c * ^ rt tA ' ^ &. X y . v ' * 

’" ' 0 ° <?*. » « I '••“ ,.., % *=-*»% 

c ' v ' > A* 

* ^ v 



(p ->' , * (y 

'/'> •"•/.'■•. 'C. 

h\ % / 

| S> _ V * * £ ; 7- Z > - z V7^BT5^sS> \ 

aV </> ,. - /b o <V ,,.“ J’ x \^ '■?/> 

y* ^ % \W&* a> * '.‘ivv ^ 

> •* y . V, . Y- , -fc A 

^ ^ \ X N c ' 1 « * s \ 1 B * '"> .o Nf < 

/ , i 1 c, 0 ' ' rtJL* *+ v xX - ^ 

rf* „ , 0 ?£$&&..*. >,. £ iA 








































